Please read to the bottom for my holiday gift for you!

Dear Santa,

I need support for the continued development of SimpleSevens. The short explanation is:

1. The site is getting bigger every month: 4 gigs of raw content
2. Working files need to move to another (eventually new) computer
3. I'm not asking to be reimbursed for my time
4. I'm hoping for donations relative to what you get from the site
5. SimpleSevens will never be a 'members only' site
6. Funds will go directly toward hardware/software upgrades
7. I'm only trying to minimize my own out-of-pocket costs.
8. I am offering sponsorship opportunities

Please see bottom of this page for mailing address, or if you deal with Paypal you may make a contribution there to johnd@simplesevens.com

1. As I continue to attend events, take photos, write stories, receive digital photos, receive prints to scan (and return at no cost to the sender), the site is just plain growing. To the extent that I need to move several gigs of information off of my company computer!

2. At a very minimum, I need to buy a Mac compatible external drive, or an external CD/DVD reader and/or writer.

3. I can't count how many hours, evenings and weekends I've spent putting content together, scanning images, emailing, telephoning, writing letters, etc. It's a lot like a hands-on restoration where you just don't count the personal time you put into it. I do it because I enjoy it, and hope you do too.

4. Think about a magazine subscription or one of the clubs of which you are a member. Do you get the same enjoyment out of the content on SimpleSevens? Consider a similar donation if you can.

5. If you can't make a donation at this point, don't worry about it. It's not like I'm going to cut you off! I have no intention of making this site a password protected or member only site. Just enjoy it. But if at some point, you can make a donation of $5, $10, or more, please don't let me stop you :-)

6. Your donations will be pooled and placed in a fund that I will tap only for the direct benefit of the SimpleSevens web site. As I stated above, priority will be toward hardware for the purpose of storing and processing more Lotus related information.

7. My out of pocket costs to this point are mainly related to returning materials to those who have sent them to me for scanning and placement on the site. Those of you who have sent photos or documents know the care with which I treat, organize and return them.

8. If you have a sportscar related business (or any business for that matter) and would like to be listed as sponsor of a section of SimpleSevens, let me know. The main page has seen over 1,000 visits over the past 30 days, with some 800 of those going on to the 'Available/Wanted' section. The most used search phrase that brings viewers to SimpleSevens is 'Lotus Seven For Sale'. Business sponsorships of sections are on a quarterly basis. Your company name and a short description of services will be tastefully inserted near the top of the section page you choose to sponsor.

Here's the long explanation : It 's a plan to begin accepting financial support for the continued maintenance and upgrading of SimpleSevens.com. The plan is based on what I call the NPR Model (That's National Public Radio for those outside the US!) NPR has fund raising drives every Fall and Spring, and what they emphasise is that each listener ought to give according to what they get out of the programming. Everyone is, of course, allowed to listen all day and night if they wish, with no real obligation to help support it. It's an honor system.

If you have enjoyed the web pages here in SimpleSevens over the last few years, you may realize that someone has been doing a bit of work to build, maintain and add to it. What you may not realise is that the entire site is the product of one lone person, working in his rare spare time, essentially creating it as a labor of love. The server space is donated by the same supplier who provides space for many of Blue Pencil Creative Group's clients. The site contents, text and photos, and the software used to develop the site (Adobe Pagemill, Photoshop, and various text and image editors) are all stored on a Macintosh Powerbook G3, which is now old enough that it cannot run the current Mac operating system, current browser versions (Explorer or Netscape) or the current versions of the software used regularly to maintain SimpleSevens. Thankfully, Blue Pencil does not currently put any restrictions on using this hardware and software outside of business hours, which means that free evenings and time at the weekends is spent using this computer and software.

However, as Blue Pencil begins upgrading hardware and software there may be limitations put on its use. In a worst case scenario, this would put the site seriously behind as my home computer simply does not have the space or speed to efficiently update the site.

I thoroughly enjoy developing this site, and will do my best to do so under whatever circumstances may arise. I thank all of you who have provided at least a kind word in an email, and also who have sent me information and photos. Without all of you out there, there would be no point to this entire exercise!

Thank you again, ladies and gentlemen, for your kind support of any kind. I will plan to maintain and upgrade this site to the best of my abilities for years to come.

Best wishes for a warm and happy holiday season!

John Donohoe
2323 Rowley Rd.
Williamston, Michigan USA

December 15th, 2003

Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays from John Donohoe, SimpleSevens.com

click the photo for a 1024x768 desktop quality jpg.

This photo was taken last year on Chrismas morning as the snow fell softly
(then I put the car back in the garage!)