Nothing Is Perfect http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/ life, the universe, and everything Copyright © 2010 Hank Dolben http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ generate 1.3.0 Ride with GPS Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:40:00 GMT http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/2010_07.shtml#211940 I used the Ride with GPS recreational route sharing website to make a map of a 50 km bike ride I like; shown below. I'll even put up with Flash® for something this nice.

]]> Eleventh Pan-Mass Challenge Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:17:00 GMT http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/2010_07.shtml#140917 The first weekend in August I will ride with Team Dolben for the eleventh straight year in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC), which benefits the Jimmy Fund of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI); 153 miles from Wellesley to Bourne and back. Personally, I have many reasons to support the kind of work—research and treatment—that is done at Dana-Farber, and see this event as an opportunity to make my friends aware of this way of contributing to the effort (a) to improve the treatment of people with cancer and (b) to increase the understanding of cancer prevention. In the past 30 years, the PMC has contributed $270 million to DFCI, while this year some 5,200 people are riding with a goal of raising $31 million (100 cents of every dollar donated going to fight cancer).

If, for your own reasons, you decide to support Dana-Farber with a sponsorship of my ride, please use the secure web server with my "eGift" ID.

]]> Wabi-sabi Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:19:00 GMT http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/2010_07.shtml#120919 The Japanese aesthetic wabi-sabi encompasses the serious meaning intended by the title of this blog. In part, it is said that it “nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.”

]]> 160 Miles on the Bike This Week Sat, 10 Jul 2010 18:02:00 GMT http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/2010_07.shtml#101402 I bicycled 160 miles in the week ending today. Last year the only week I rode more than that was the one that ended the Saturday of the Pan-Mass Challenge.

]]> NH Law for Bicyclists Riding Two Abreast Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:25:00 GMT http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/2010_07.shtml#051625 So that you can honestly say that you've read the New Hampshire law, the following is from TITLE XXI, MOTOR VECHICLES, CHAPTER 265, RULES OF THE ROAD, Special Rules for Bicycles and Mopeds, Section 265:144.

V. Persons riding bicycles 2 or more abreast shall not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic and, on a laned roadway, shall ride within a single lane.
]]> Two Abreast Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:59:00 GMT http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/2010_07.shtml#051159 Near the end of today's bike ride I overtook a group of three women bicyclists. As I approached from behind them I saw that two of them were riding abreast and continued to do so when there was overtaking traffic in spite of the fact that the rider on the left was well out in the lane, there being no shoulder to the road. I see this all time and am bothered by it because I know that it annoys the motor vehicle drivers who consequently have difficulty passing. After I passed the three I watched—I have a rearview mirror, good for anticipating overtaking traffic—as a few more times cars overtook them, at times with traffic coming in the opposite direction, making passing from behind impossible for a little while. That did it. I sat up and waited until the women caught up to me, then asked the one out in the middle of the road why she didn't move over to allow overtaking traffic to pass. She told me that New Hampshire permitted bicyclists to ride two abreast. Ah! There's the problem.

You see, that's true, but only when not impeding traffic. One of the other women told me I should read the law. I'm pretty sure that people who say that have never read the law. Bob Mionske, an attorney specializing in law affecting cyclists, has a brief guide to the state laws regarding riding two abreast.

]]> When in the Course of Human Events... Fri, 02 Jul 2010 09:24:00 GMT http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/2010_07.shtml#020524 Declaration of Independence

]]> Deepwater Horizon Blowout Preventer Failure Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:57:00 GMT http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/2010_06.shtml#210857 The New York Times finds preliminary answers to many of the questions about the failure of the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer. Two things in particular standout: the blowout preventer has only one blind shear ram (that failed to seal the well) while many underwater wells have blowout preventers with a second, backup, blind shear ram; blowout preventers are known within the industry and government regulating agencies to be unreliable, suffering from design deficiencies and inadequate maintenance.

]]> Too Bad Not to Fail Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:50:00 GMT http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/2010_06.shtml#111850 In the American Scholar, University of South Carolina law professor William Quirk provides a straightforward analysis of the recent financial crisis; its causes and effects, as well as the bailout of the giant investment banks, which in his view have become thinly veiled hedge funds following their historically recent incorporation and deregulation. He convincingly recommends re-regulation—returning these rogue institutions to the traditional banking role—and limiting their size, so that we will no longer fear the failure of any one, a measure I heartily endorse.

]]> Seventh Anniversary Sun, 06 Jun 2010 08:38:00 GMT http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/2010_06.shtml#060438 Today is the seventh anniversary of the inception of Nothing Is Perfect.

]]> Celestial Dance Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:17:00 GMT http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/2010_06.shtml#031117 It's always nice to know what you're looking at when gazing at the sky on a fine summer night. This year our two closest planetary neighbors engage the ringed one in a season long celestial dance.

]]> The Ultimate Question Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:57:00 GMT http://nothingisperfect.dolben.org/2010_06.shtml#021257

It's time for a reminder of what I mean when I say that this blog is about life, the universe, and everything.

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