life on the wand

My bicycle problems continue unabated. While riding home today there was a lot of traffic backed up going into Datchet. Because there isn't enough room to pass on the right because of oncoming traffic, and because they weren't looking behind them I didn't want to try to pass on the left for fear of getting sideswiped against the curb, I chose the path less traveled and rode on the pavement (sidewalk), which might be against the rules of the road, but not the rules of staying alive. Because it was already getting dark, I couldn't see where I was going very well and I hit a bump (curb) as I crossed a street and rode up on the sidewalk. When I got home, I realized my back light was missing! The one I bought in the US, installed just recently, and used for the first time tonight! The lens was caught in the bike chain, but the rest of it was gone. After dinner Joyce was kind enough to drive me back towards work slowly so I could look for parts. We didn't see anything, so I got out of the car and started walking down the sidewalk where I hit the bump. I found the batteries, but not the base assembly that attaches to the holder. It occurred to me at that point that perhaps it was still stuck somewhere on the bike, too, so we went back to the house. On closer inspection I learned that the base assembly had not fallen off -- only the lense and the batteries. Victory! I have all the parts! Only, how do I keep that from happening again?

Hmm, looking at the picture of the book cover on the previous post, I would have to assume that the probability of God must be mighty small.
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My first book review! How exciting. However, like Cara I think I will just put my book reviews in with the rest of my posts -- I need all the topics I can get! The book is titled The Probability of God: A Simple Calculation that Proves the Ultimate Truth. It is written by Stephen D. Unwin, Ph.D. He received his doctorate in theoretical physics from the University of Manchester, migrated to risk analysis in his career, worked for the British government as a technical attaché to the US DOE, and now owns a consulting firm and lives in Ohio. I was very struck by his observation of the difference between his religious outlook from his upbringing in the UK and the religious outlook of his colleagues' at DOE in New Mexico. I quote from his book:

"It was arriving in the United States almost 20 years ago that my religious sensibilities were shaken. I had become lolled into a somewhat lazy, complacent form of religious thought in which God had become simply a symbol of good ethical behavior, compassion, generosity, honesty, and other virtues. ... Now, suddenly, I found myself in the company of people—educated and smart people—whose perception of God was far more concrete than mine."

Wow! I experience this in the reverse living in England. However, back to the book, this experience made Dr. Unwin consider his beliefs much more stongly, and he ended up going to his probability and risk analysis experience and training to determine, for himself, the probability that God exists. The book does provide a good introduction to Bayesian probabilities (the details of which some might find confusing, but I think skipping them and reading the conclusions is just as valuable), and also considers specific areas of evidentiary interest. These include topics like the existence of moral good, moral evil, and natural evil. Humorous at times, my personal opinion is that occasionally the author tries too hard for a laugh at the expense of the thought being conveyed. Also, I found his argument at the end of the book that "faith-based beliefs can provide no legitimate basis for any form of human conflict" rather weak. While he may logically be correct, I think a bit of observation proves that humans are seldom logical in their behavior, especially as it relates to faith-based matters!

Overall, I found the book personally thought provoking and an interesting read, though I fear there isn't much future for mathematical theology.

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I give up. Blogger wins. They can put files wherever they want, because if you expect them to put files where they are told in all the little upload options you just get frustrated. Hmph!
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My directory was getting to be a mess, so I decided to move my blog archives and images around. What a mess. Nothing links to anything right now -- at least not correctly. I guess the archive links are in the worst shape. And, if I move the images I will have to go back and edit many of the old posts. Plan your site structure carefully when you start to keep this from happening to you!
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Hmph! Joyce and Mark have started blogs listing books they have read. Now I feel left behind. Relegated to a has-been status. I guess I will have to start my own, and you can look for an update every year or two when I get a chance to read a book! What is crazy to me, is that when I graduated from McCabe School (K-8) the principal awarded me the Reading Award. They had never presented a student with a Reading Award before, but I spent so many recess, lunch, and class periods during my time at that school reading books they felt compelled to recognize it publically. Now all I read are e-mails at work and contracts.

And Blogs :-)
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See anything wrong in the picture to the left (click on it for a larger view)? What about those pedals? Can you imagine trying to ride a bicycle like that? I can! I learned about crank cotter pins today. They are used on REALLY old bicycles, according the parts store I found online. The original one (shown on the right) was replaced just recently with the one on the left. Unfortunately, as I left work today, the nut that holds the pin in fell off, and I limped home trying to push the pin back into the pedal with my heel while I pedaled with the ball of my foot. Ha! I eventually had to take a big rock and beat the thing back into the pedal with bits of a rubberband to get it to stick, and that sort of worked but it still ended up slipping slowly around, until about one mile from home the pedals were in sync. So, left foot pulls left pedal up, right foot pushes right pedal down, legs get very tired. Many interested observers on the way home, though.
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With all this discussion about the Sweet Pepper and Goat Cheese Spread, I thought I should let you know how it is. But first, details about the day. Or, even weekend. (Anticipation...) I probably didn't write about the bicycles we recently purchased, but Cara did, so you can read her post about it. However, I have started trying to ride my bicycle to work most days, partly because of the environment, partly for exercise, partly because it saves a bit of money on transportation costs (not really -- I've probably spent more fixing the bike than it would cost to drive to work every day for a year!), and partly because Joyce's life is easier if she has access to a car without working it in around my schedule. Yesterday Joyce and I rode our bicycles into Windsor for a bit of shopping, and a few bicycle repair parts. I spent the afternoon working on my bicycle: replaced the back tire, cleaned and repacked the rear wheel bearings and pedal shaft bearings, cleaned and relubricated the chain, adjusted the derailer, etc. Today, after church, we drove to B&Q (UK's Home Depot) and bought £16.48 of wood which I used to build a shelf over the kid's school crates for the teacher books. Unfortunately, it is already covered with other junk (did't take more than a couple of hours). Of course, part of the reason is because as Joyce and I were walking to church tonight we saw a computer in a skip (dumpster). This is the THIRD computer we have found in a skip this summer. All three were in working order of sorts. One didn't have a hard drive, another didn't have memory, etc. Some of what you can see on and around the shelf are evidences of these computers. So, anyway, Joyce and I walked back to the church to hear a fellow American living in Datchet give a short presentation called "God in the Life of David Kenley: Driving on the Left and Other Observations about the Spiritual Life." An interesting talk about how the changes of living in England, and worshiping in a new environment, brings new meanings to things that have become commonplace in our "normal" lives. David and his wife Kim are members of the Disciples of Christ church in Louisville, so we share many common heritages in our Christian faith. Well, when Joyce and I got home from church it was almost 8 PM, and we were hungry. And, I thought, "Hmm, I could be happy with a bit of cheese and crackers for dinner." But, of course, I couldn't have the cheese and crackers without my new jar of Sweet Pepper and Goat Cheese Spread. So, how was it, you might ask? Cooked, blended up sweet peppers, but not very cheesy. So, I added some cheese to the mix and have been nibbling on it for dinner. I am not impressed enough to go buy another jar of Sweet Pepper and Goat Cheese Spread, but I think I will go get a second helping.
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My sister Ellen recently sent me a small jar of Sweet Pepper & Goat Cheese Spread. I am not sure why. It arrived from California about three weeks after my birthday -- is it birthday spread? Or, did all of my siblings receive a jar? Some questions may never be answered. We will see if this is one of them.
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