Thirty Eighth of 40 Donations

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The Thirty Eighth of my 40 donations goes to Animals Lebanon. This charity was picked by Nelly Attar as she won the sweepstake by providing the closest estimate as to how far I could cycle in 40 hours.

Animals Lebanon improves the welfare of animals through comprehensive national animal protection and welfare legislation. To support this campaign they provide nationwide public assistance for companion animals while rescuing and improving the conditions of captive endangered wildlife.

https://www.animalslebanon.org/who-we-are/what-we-achieve

The good work Animals Lebanon do has been made even more critical and challenging due to the economic situation in Lebanon, where many people are now struggling to make ends meet on a day-to-day basis.

I chose to make my donation is US Dollars and so used XE.com to provide the spot rate as per the below. I rounded up to $55 and processed the payment online.

https://www.xe.com/

Dear Craig,

Thank you very much for your recent donation to Animals Lebanon!

Your generous support gives us hope and makes it possible to help
animals most in need. We are doing this work during the most difficult
situation in our 13 years. There are still daily protests and
roadblocks, the currency is declining, fuel is running out, more
electricity cuts, no government for nine months, and more than half of
the population has slipped into poverty.

The explosion and economic crisis mean more people are unable to care
for their pets. Even the cheapest food and basic vet care are nearly
impossible for many. We have given out nearly 9,000 kilos of food in the
last nine months, and continue to help hundreds of families with urgent
vet care for their pets. Only nine of the animals rescued from the
explosion still need a home. Every other cat and dog was able to be
returned to their owner or found a great new home. Hopefully one more
trip and all will finally be adopted.

Since the beginning of this year, we have rescued
–    Hope, a puppy whose ears and tail were cut off
–    Sunny, a cat who was shot in the face
–    Max, an emaciated dog who was used in dog fighting with a large
wound around his neck
–    Benny, a cat who is suffering from a massive wound on his back
because of a shotgun

Thanks to the incredible animal-loving community, we were able to fly 17
of our cats to the US on March 29. Thanks to Tabby’s place
(@tabbysplace), Lambertvilleanimalwelfare (@lambertvilleanimalwelfare),
and Monmouth County SPCA (@mcspca), these cats can now start fresh with
their painful past as distant memories. Each cat cost around $470 so
your donations made all the difference in changing their lives.

Due to the difficult economic situation that Lebanon is facing, many of
our loyal and valuable fosters are leaving the country, which means that
countless of our cats are returning to the shelter where they will take
up space and resources that could be used instead for incoming rescues.
Few cats that were adopted years ago are also being returned as their
owners can no longer afford to keep them or have to leave the country
without the option of taking them along.

It’s also kitten season! Since the first week of April, we have cared
for over 20 kittens that were either dumped on the street, found among
garbage, sick, injured, or stuck in a car engine. A few kittens are at
some lovely fosters who are administering their medication if required
or simply offering them a loving and temporary foster home until a more
permanent one can be found.

You are truly making a difference for the animals that we are rescuing
and rehabilitating, we cannot overstate how much your compassion means
to us and to those innocent animals you are helping to protect.

For the animals,
Jasmine Farhat
Donations
E: jasmine@animalslebanon.org

You can watch the prize being awarded to Nelly and her making her choices here:

You can read about me cycling for 40 hours here:

Penultimate review and final #40s440 list

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With my 41st Birthday only a couple of months away, I’ll leave the pleasantries and whimsical reflections until I draft my concluding remarks. For now it’s enough to note that what started as a playful concept to substitute making a New Year’s Resolution has burgeoned into a list of forty 40-themed challenges or events and a movement that others have embraced, contributed to and in some cases evolved into their own.

Below is the final list, you will note that some of the original challenges remain outstanding but I have been progressing them. For example, I intended to run 40 kilometres in 40 minutes well before now but had been leaving it until I had completed the Ironman and the Marathon, my logic being that I would be in fine form to then concentrate on running only for a while post these two events. The trouble is that both events kept being postponed due to the pandemic and although I will complete them in the next few weeks, its been really tough training hard enough to bring my times down through the heat of summer in Riyadh. It’s also looking doubtful that I’ll be able to climb Puncak Jaya (my fourth of the World’s Seven Summits) before I turn 41 (again, due to the pandemic) but I’ve not ruled it out just yet. Whatever happens, I’ll do it as soon as I can get into Indonesia.

That being said, going with the flow and remaining adaptable has really made this fun and I’m really excited to be back in the UK to do Ironman 70.3 Bolton and Manchester Marathon in quick succession.

My Garmin 245’s race predictor time now says 5k 20:37, 10k 43:44, Half Marathon 1:42:06 and the full marathon 3:58:25 and I can actually run at a 4 minute per kilometre pace now so I’ve definitely made progress.

By way of a summary:

I’ve completed 63% of the 40 challenges and with the few that are ongoing the completion rate is up at 73%. I’ve got a route to finishing most of the remainder before I turn 41, any that I don’t I’ll deal with as part of the conclusion.

I’ve also given away £1,480 (37 x £40) to some very worthy causes and that in itself has been very rewarding.

So here’s the list and some statistics:

Thirty Seventh of 40 Donations

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The Thirty Seventh of my 40 donations goes to the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust. The Battle of Britain Memorial includes the Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall at Capel-le-Ferne. The Memorial wall lists the names of all the aircrew known to have flown with a recognised squadron during the Battle of Britain, which took place between 10 July and 31 October 1940 – just under 3,000 men in total.

Sponsoring one of the names on the wall allows you to form a special bond with one of the individuals who flew to preserve the Freedom of the United Kingdom in 1940.

Coincidentally, you can sponsor one of those names for a donation of just £40!

I posted this today as the 15th September is also known as Battle of Britain Day, an annual commemoration of the battle in the United Kingdom. The 15th of September date is significant as a large-scale aerial battle (some say the climax of the Battle of Britain) took place on the 15th September 1940; the German defeat proved to be a turning point in the whole war.

The wall is named in tribute to the late Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Foxley-Norris, a Hurricane fighter pilot in 1940. He was the first President of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust and, together with Lady Foxley-Norris, provided the funds that allowed plans for the wall to go ahead.

By sponsoring a name on the wall, I will receive a commemorative folder containing a certificate marking my donation and a copy of my airman’s entry in ‘Men of the Battle of Britain’, the recognised guide to the men who took part in the RAF’s critical defence of England’s shores.

I will update this post with the details of who my chosen Airman is and hopefully, some of his story.

https://www.amazon.com/Men-Battle-Britain-Kenneth-Wynn/dp/0947893156

Attend a 40s-themed event

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I was honoured to be invited to attend an event to recognise the 81st Anniversary of the Battle of Britain and remember those who served and sacrificed everything between 10th July and 31st October 1940 to defend England from German invasion during the Second World War.

The Battle of Britain was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe.

I’m proud and in awe of my forebears who served during the Second World War, in the Navy, the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force.

Love and respect – thank you (my Grandfather with his siblings)

In the late 1930s and early 1940 Germany made significant progress invading Europe and once France had surrendered, the British troops that remained on the continent had to be evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk.

The then Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed the the House of Commons on 18 June 1940 with a now famous speech, where he determined:

“What General Weygand called the ‘Battle of France’ is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.”

This is where the Battle of Britain takes its name from.

On 16 July 1940, Hitler ordered the preparation of Operation Sea Lion as a potential amphibious and airborne assault on Britain, to follow once the Luftwaffe had air superiority over the Channel.

However, the Luftwaffe’s failure to overwhelm the RAF forced Hitler to postpone and eventually cancel Operation Sea Lion.

Historian Stephen Bungay cited Germany’s failure to destroy Britain’s air defences to force an armistice (or even an outright surrender) as the first major German defeat in the Second World War and a crucial turning point in the conflict.

The airmen who took to the skies in 1940 left the United Kingdom with a legacy of freedom. The RAF, in preventing a Nazi invasion during the Battle of Britain, preserved a way of life and kept the shores of Britain clear so that it could be used as a launchpad for re-taking Europe in 1944.

Winston Churchill payed tribute to the enormous efforts made by the fighter pilots and bomber crews to establish air superiority over England when he stated:

Never in the field of human conflict was so much been owed by so many to so few

By H.M. Stationery Office – This World War II poster was taken from the uploader’s own collection. A lower resolutio version of the same poster is available at https://www.mplib.org/wpdb/index.asp?exact=MPW00376 where the publisher information is provided as follows “Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Lowe & Brydon Printers, Ltd”. This implies that the copyright holder is HMSO or, in other words, it is Crown Copyright. As this poster is more than 50 years old, it is now in the public domain., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35330825

Another famous Winston Churchill quote from his speech in the House of Commons on 18 June 1940 is:

“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say,

‘This was their finest hour.‘”

You can read more about the Battle of Britain on the Wikipedia page or on the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) website:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain

https://www.raf.mod.uk/display-teams/battle-of-britain-memorial-flight/

There’s a film about the Battle of Britain, some of which was projected onto the background wall of the venue.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain_(film)

By source:www.impawards.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8176176

Some pictures from the event itself:

Thirty Sixth of 40 Donations

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The Thirty Sixth of my 40 donations goes to Leukaemia UK. I was shocked and yet relieved recently when a friend informed me that they had been diagnosed with and thankfully cured of Leukaemia in the relatively short time since I had seen them last, Alhamdulillah.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma led to the untimely demise of my own Father, we need to be rid of it.

Leukaemia UK has been working hard to help improve the treatment and care of blood cancer patients for more than 40 years.

Leukaemia UK likes to support projects that make the wellbeing of people dealing with blood cancers their first priority.

Leukaemia UK also works closely with health professionals and hospitals to identify areas where we can make a positive contribution so your donations are spent where they will have the most significant impact.

Leukaemia UK support projects that have an immediate or near-future benefit to patients and the treatment and cure of leukaemia, Hodgkin and other lymphomas, myeloma, myelodysplasia and other blood cancers.

Leukaemia UK’s research: Leukaemia UK is currently funding several research projects which are investigating how to improve treatment options and developing easier ways to diagnose blood cancers.

Leukaemia UK’s Mind & Body project: Dealing with a blood cancer diagnosis can be both physically and emotionally draining. We believe advances in medical treatments need to be matched by much greater emotional and wellbeing care for people affected by blood cancers. Getting the right care and support can help everyone’s ability to cope, which is why we’re helping to fund specialist staff posts to help people get better, sooner.

Leukaemia UK’s Helping Hand Fund: Some people experiencing real financial hardship as a result of their blood cancer may qualify for a one-off grant. Applications must be supported by the consultant or specialist nurse treating the patient.

https://www.leukaemiauk.org.uk/

Put #40s440 on the map!

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How to make Forties for 40 famous or renowned? How to establish its significance and symbolism and my commitment to it?

I’ve produced t-shirts and have considered selling merchandise. I’m in discussions about television and radio appearances but as yet I’m keen to keep my head down, working away to define and complete the challenges.

‘Putting it on the map’ is often used in the idiomatic sense and I wondered if it could be done in a literal sense…. well it can!

Thanks to Garmin and my amazing Sister once again!
Note temperature of 44 degrees Celsius!
Note average moving pace of 4:40!

Of course, I did something like this before to raise awareness of the situation in Beirut following the terrible blast at the port…

…and it amuses me no end when I see similarly creative ‘Radar Art’ on Flight Radar or other such platforms:

A flight radar map.

As a final point, a friend of mine recently educated me on the symbolic meaning of numbers. This is something I had not been aware of at the inception of 40s 4 40 but that now seems may have more relevance that I was conscious of or gave credence to.

To that end, my efforts should be considered a message to the heavens, to God and my Angels (4) to express my earth-bound sincere gratitude, awe and infinite (0) commitment.

Thirty Fifth of 40 Donations

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The thirty fourth of my 40 donations goes to Nathan Ford’s rehabilitation.

Nathan was involved in an accident whilst competing in a British Championship Triathlon in Aberfeldy, Scotland.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/nathan-ford?utm_source=fb_copy_link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cp%20share-sheet&fbclid=IwAR3VDE–LF-wA2Gz0m7fLLmAET9Ud4kv9jh88090DPSU82QSlReupole63k

As a result of this accident Nathan is currently in Intensive Care in Scotland and has a long road ahead of him. Nathan was diagnosed with two life threatening conditions, a brain injury and a spinal injury.

It appears that his brain injury isn’t as severe as initially thought but his spinal injury is worse than imagined. Currently Nathan is not able to breathe independently and is unable to move.

Nathan’s wife set up this page to support herself and their family, to be close to Nathan in this critical time. They are 500 miles from home and hope to stay with Nathan until he can be transferred closer to home.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/nathan-ford?utm_source=fb_copy_link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cp%20share-sheet&fbclid=IwAR3VDE–LF-wA2Gz0m7fLLmAET9Ud4kv9jh88090DPSU82QSlReupole63k

The Family is searching for extra tools, support and services that can help them to help Nathan. There are resources to help him communicate with them that they feel are vital for his wellbeing at this time.

Much further down the line they are hoping rehabilitation can provide some quality of life for Nathan.

It goes without saying that they are heartbroken at this time and any support that can help alleviate some of the financial worry will be hugely appreciated.

Nathan is well known and loved by so many, and we all know how strong and independent he is, but this isn’t a race he can win alone.

Having had a serious bicycle accident myself, I realise how quickly things can take an unexpected turn and my heart goes out to Nathan’s family. Incredibly, the community has rallied together and at the time of posting this blog, the fund has risen to over £80k!

https://www.gofundme.com/f/nathan-ford?utm_source=fb_copy_link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cp%20share-sheet&fbclid=IwAR3VDE–LF-wA2Gz0m7fLLmAET9Ud4kv9jh88090DPSU82QSlReupole63k

Resting Heart Rate in the Forties

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Having a low resting heart rate is an indicator for cardiovascular health and fitness. It suggests the heart is strong and can pump a lot of blood with every beat, thus it does not have to beat as frequently. Your physical fitness is directly correlated to the strength of your heart.

The National Health Service says most adults have a resting heart rate between 60 and 100bpm. The fitter you are, the lower your resting heart rate is likely to be. For example, athletes may have a resting heart rate of 40 to 60bpm, or lower.

I figured it would be a good challenge to see if, notwithstanding my tendency to live life at a fast pace, I could achieve a low resting heart rate in the forties, at the age of 40.

My heart rate is not naturally particularly low and so reducing it to within the forties presented a significant challenge. I’ve been experimenting on myself over the past few months to see what affects my heart rate and how it can become lower.

The three factors that seemed to help me personally achieve a low heart rate were as follows:

  • 1. High level of fitness
  • 2. Good diet 
  • 3. Sufficient rest

If any one of these are not present, my resting heart rate would be relatively higher.

The three main factors that seemed to drive my resting heart rate up were as follows:

  • 1. Drinking alcohol 
  • 2. Overtraining and doing late night workouts 
  • 3. Stress

Below are some pictures that illustrate the dramatic effect consuming alcohol had on my resting heart rate. You can effectively see which night I drank alcohol, as my resting heart rose significantly.

Needless to say, to complete this challenge I had to consider not drinking any alcohol at all or (living in a dry country helped).

When I am calm, well-rested and relatively still my heart rate now drops into the 40s fairly regularly but this is only momentary and not my actual resting heart rate as you can see in the below screenshot from the Garmin Connect App.

My current heart rate was 43 beats per minute but my resting heartrate was 60 beats per minute.
43 BPM is the lowest I’ve recorded my current heart rate at. 03/05/2021

I did managed to achieve a daily resting heart rate in the forties a number of times over a four month period so this shows it is not a one off freak occurrence.

The below screenshots cover the period from early May to mid-August 2021:

The lowest daily resting heart rate I achieved was 44 beats per minute on 4th July 2021.

To take this challenge one step further, I am trying to achieve a 7-day average resting heart rate in the forties.

I’ve had my 7 day average resting heart rate it as low as 51 (see below) but invariably something gets in the way like a late night or a hard training session and as these things raise the hard rate significantly even one night increases the average and thus prevents me from being able to lower if further.

I think I will be able to achieve a 7 day average resting heart rate when I have completed the Ironman and the marathon and the temperature reduces in Riyadh so I can adjust my training schedule to better achieve it.

I’d also like to see if I can record a heart rate of 40 beats per minute but I reckon it might take some sort of meditative trance to achieve that (and then how will I screenshot the app….?!).

Incredibly on the 2nd of February 2022, exactly one month after I consumed the last alcohol at Heathrow Airpirt before I flew back to the middle east and began ‘Dry January’ I managed to achieve a resting heart rate of 40 beats per minute as per the below screenshot from the Garmin connect app (no meditative trance required):

#40s440

I am still aiming for a weekly average heart rate in the forties and currently my average is 51 beats per minute so guess if I keep on doing what in doing it may well get there!

…and then on the 5th of February 2022, after a week of low resting heart rate and no drinking alcohol, I finally achieved my additional goal of a ‘Resting Heart Rate in the 40s’ over a 7-day average.

The 7 day average for my resting heart rate continued to drop while I was on leave from work to as low as 47 but it subsequently returned to the low 50s after my return to work and associated travel.

The watch I used was a Garmin 245, like the one on this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07RCJV4PT/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=cjburgoine-21&camp=1634&creative=6738&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07RCJV4PT&linkId=b5e43d6842b72d7a6282b5e376f02801

Thirty Fourth of 40 Donations

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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.

https://www.robinhoodtax.org.uk/how-it-works

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.

Read more at:

https://www.robinhoodtax.org.uk/

Sell 40 shares @ £4.40!

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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.

DS Smith is an international packaging company, offering sustainable, plastic-free packaging, integrated recycling services, and sustainable paper products.

https://www.dssmith.com/

Recognising the stock was performing well, I set a sell limit instruction online via the Hargreaves Lansdown App.

https://www.hl.co.uk/

It took just over a month for the upper limit I set of £4.40 to be reached.

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 🙂

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_outcry