God and bike repair

[jack]

*sigh*

Is there a God who designed the worlds[1] for the benefit of human life? Look at a world which *is* designed by intellegence for life: ie.[2] Sims. There's little real estate wasted on 10^big vaccuum[3] with no people in. All your actions are personality-relevant. It seems suggestive (though we're outside, obviously, so it'd hard to tell).

In fact, for I while I was considering fic in a matrix-like world, where they *did* twig because of such a philsophical point -- there were psychic powers which could only be explained by minds having a distinguished place above other matter (because the simulation made some optimisations).

Is *our* world like that? Maybe. It'd be hard to tell -- of all the random nuclear decays, etc, whcih ones cause a hurricane? Which ones stop one? Is the number statistically significant? Especially if the "god" is playing hide and seek.

Specifically, bike punctures must be fairly random. Do they happen statistically significantly more often when you're late for a date, a job interview, or doctor who[4]?

OK, sorry. All this is leading up to me adding a few steps to sonicdrift's really marvellous bike repair manual:

* Fix puncture.
* Wait overnight.
* Fix other puncture, two inches from the first.
* Wait overnight.
* Cycle 500 yds.
* Kick wall repeatedly.
* Examine tyre. The tyre has popped loose from the wheel, and a rabbit's ear of doubled up inner tube has popped out sideways and caught on one of the many struts designed to prevent easy maintance to the wheel.
* Try to reduce bike to pushable condition.
* Carry bike 200 yds.
* Partially deflated. Stuff bits back and push carefully 300 yds.
* Drink beer and write computer games.
* Blog about it.

[1] The first time I typed "word". Very saphir-whorph :)
[2] Or maybe eg. But The second part is the relevent one, in mind during the first half. Which is more correct?
[3] Hmm. Unless you count the MB of memory used for the OS. Is hacking out of the game program equivalent to us discovering, say, quantum entanglement? Hmm.
[4] Or all of the above, in the case of, say, Billie Piper :)

Update: I forgot * pour bowl of water on floor

Comments

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

To my shame, I have given up fixing punctures. It never works. I have also given up buying inner tubes that don't have hole sealant inside though :)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yes, I've heard that advice, but decided to try. I mean, the second time it didn't seem to deflate, so I did *something* right.

It's unfortunately become a matter of stubbonness for me. Next time I get a tube I think I might go for that sort, though.

[satanicsocks.livejournal.com]

I rode my brother's bike yesterday. The only thing not wrong with it was the lack of punctures... the handlebars and seat were so loosely screwed on I was afraid they were going to come off at any moment, tyres nearly flat, front brake cable cut off, front brake pads and bracket entirely missing, gear changing extremely broken, wheels and spokes rusty...

He's only had it a few months, and it was new when he got it. This is why you shouldn't drink and cycle, kids.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Everything else went wrong with this one too. But much of it is fixed now.

[satanicsocks.livejournal.com]

The worst thing is my parents want me to fix it cos he's clearly incapable.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

There are advantages to being incapable, and things to learn from even the most annoying brothers. If he'll allow you to teach him to fix it, that would be a reasonable older sister thing to do; otherwise, make sure you botch it :)

[satanicsocks.livejournal.com]

pah, he thinks he can fix it. He can't.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Well, a saddle-mouting up the jacksie should larn him, right? :)

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Confiscate it!

[satanicsocks.livejournal.com]

well, I want to ride it!

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Well, if you confiscate it, you'll have it to right, neh?

[satanicsocks.livejournal.com]

Hmm true. for some reason I equated confiscate with lock away.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

If it helps, so did I, but my automatic pedant 3001 kicked in. You could lock it up when you leave :)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Or leave him to suffer the consequences of his actions</Goodkind>

(Sorry for typos!)

[ewx.livejournal.com]

I was quite pleased a few weeks ago to work in an office which keeps a puncture repair kit around. One day I will get round to actually carrying one with me, though whether that is before or after I get a puncture in an inconvenient place remains to be seen...

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Ooh, yes, that's a good idea.

I would carry one. But it seems foolishly optimistic that I'd actually be able to do it then and there and it'd work. And I'd probably need a pump, and I don't *always* want to carry a lot, though I guess sometimes I am anyway.

It's still better than repairing a car ad hoc al fresco :)

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Well, the pump would be the only inconveniently-shaped bit, and that could be mounted on the bike if necessary. I've not fixed tires very often but it's worked reasonably well when I have.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

True. But I'd feel obliged to take the pump off every time I stopped in case someone else did. I could find a pump with a hole for a bikelock.

Yes, maybe when I fix my fourth puncture I'll be good at it, at which point optimism *will* make sense -- most people seem to manage. But so far I need a good big space to curse in and a bowl of water.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

If the puncture's small enough to need water then perhaps you can get away with reinflating every few miles on the way back to civilization. The other thing some people do is carry a spare inner tube.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

True. You would think one or the other would hold true. Yesterday, I did :)

Good point about the inner tube. Mobbsy said his prefered approach was to have several inner tubes, and swap them out on a puncture, and then fix the other at his leasure.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

I'm slightly wary of "at leisure" turning out to mean "when all my inner tubes have holes in" l-)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

True. He said it worked for him.

[mobbsy.livejournal.com]

Since I've been invoked here, I'll mention that since I always have panniers attached to my bike, I keep a mini-pump and a spare inner-tube in my panniers. I've had to do roadside tube swaps several times, it's quicker than finding and patching a puncture.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I thought you had to say the name three times when invoking someone.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

We forgot the pentagram as well.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Speak for yourself.

[mobbsy.livejournal.com]

Ha! Free at last! Free to wreak havoc across the world. Bwahahaha...

What's that nun doing there? Is that a gun she's pointing at me?

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

*snork*

[sonicdrift.livejournal.com]

*grin*

I recommend the gel filled punture resistant tyres? At least you only have to take the back wheel off once!