Friday March 9, 2007 5:30 am Lethbridge Sunrise 6:59 Sunset 18:25 Hours of daylight: 11:24

A. Morning Musings

5:30 am It is +2 C at the moment with a high of +11 C forecast.

Now that we have Internet connectivity, and a freshly brewed cuppa, I can return to my regular daily routine.

Here are the news.

CBC Headline: EU aims to boost renewable energy use to 20%

This is a broad agreement to reduce greenhouse gase emissions and switch to renewable energy sources. As the article states, this will put the EU at the forefront of such efforts to reduce global warming. This is the first such concrete effort to set national goals for a major part of the world's econcomy. It certainly is far ahead of the United States, and Canada, and hopefully will act as an incentive for other industrialized nations to follow suit.

Canadian Headline: Bacterial Outbreak Shuts Toronto Neonatal Unit

The unit has 41 beds in a space of only 30 square feet and this may have contributed to the spread of the infection. There have been no deaths so far. Closing the unit will put a strain on existing resources in Ontario which are already operating at capacity. It seems that stories involving an overtaxed medical system are appearing regularly. This is another indicator, much like those for global warming, that there are serious problems with our present systems of providing service to our population and that substantive adjustments may be needed to our overall priorities. Both the problems, and their solutions, involve a balance of reducing the problem and increasing the support for the services. In this case, reducing the problem means finding more efficient ways of providing medical services and increasing support means increasing taxes. The problem needs to be addressed at a "big picture" level.

Australian Headline: (from The Australian): Labour Frontbencher Quits

The Labour shadow attorney general resigned following revelations that he wrote a personal reference for a fugitive drug baron. This appears to have been part of an automated process and a form letter reference was produced even though he did not personally know the person. One way to reduce the probability of such occurrences would be to include an introductory paragraph that provides details of the relationship betweeen the person writing the letter and the individual asking for the reference.

My weight is 195, down 1 due to less eating. It is a beginning. Exercise and walking are now back on the agenda.

B. Plan

Immediate
Technology	Edit images from Mexico trip	1 hr
	View area near Merida on GoogleEarth	1 hr
	Attach turntable to MacBook Pro	1 hr
Birds	Review books on field guides for birding	1 hr
	Purchase binoculars (Bushnell Legacy WP 10x50)	1 hr
Literature	Begin reading "Runaway" by Alice Munro	1 hr
History	Begin reading "Maya"	1 hr
Later
Technology	Read manual for cell phone
	Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac"
	Burn backup of images onto DVD
Mathematics	Make notes for "Mathematics: A Human Endeavor" ch 1
	Read "Fearless Symmetry" chap 9: Elliptic Curves
Model Trains	Add ground cover to oil refinery diorama
	Continue assembly of coaling tower
	Follow tutorial for version 8 of 3rd PlanIt
	Purchase DCC system
History	Read Watson "Ideas"
Philosophy	Read & make notes for "Breaking the Spell"
GO	Complete reading "Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go"
Puzzles	The Orange Puzzle Cube: puzzle #10
Major Goals
Learning	Review week's pages each Sunday
	Review all pages for the month at the end of each month
Technology	Review & edit iPhoto files for 2006
	Become proficient with cell phone
Model Trains	Become proficient with 3rd PlanIt software
	Install DCC on model train layout
GO	Learn to play GO at something better than a beginner level
Drawing	Learn to draw!! (I keep saying this, yet I have yet to put a pencil to paper).
Mathematics	Continue to play with mathematics.
Literature	Continue to read Literature
Bird Watching	Continue to engage in bird watching activities.

C. Actual/Note

8:05 am We are back from our early morning walk - the first since returning from Mexico. It was refreshing as the air is clear and there was only a light wind. It is a beginning to a fitness routine but I still need to add a definite exercise component as well.

1:00 PM A quick trip over town to buy a pair of binoculars. We are now set to watch the spring migrants as they head north. I then went into the local Chapters bookstore where I bought the following books:

• The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems (2006) by W. Michael Kelley. This should help me get back on track with this topic.
• The Emotion Machine (2006) by Marvin Minsky. I like to read anything by Minsky.
• The Shorebird Guide (2006) by Michael O'Brien et al. Larry showed me his copy and I realized immediately that I would want a copy for my own use.
• How To Be a Bad Bird Watcher (2004) by Simon Barnes. This looks like it is aimed directly at me.
• The Bone Collector (1998) by Jeffery Deaver. A crime novel. After reading The Cold Moon I am hooked on the Lincoln Rhyme books.
• The Coffin Dancer (1998) by Jeffery Deaver. See above.

Now to find the time to begin. But first I want to place an online order for a few other books:

• Stokes Field Guide To Birds Western Region
• A Field Guide to Western Birds : A Completely New Guide to Field Marks of All Species Found in North America West of the 100th Meridian and North of M (Peterson)
• Lonely Planet Australia
• Fodor's Australia 2007

D. Reflection

7:15 PM A good day. I have completed most of the chores that I had identified after arriving back in Lethbridge. I have a couple of new tasks to occupy my time for a few days. One is editing my photos from the Mexico trip and organizing the bird photos. The second is attaching the turntable to my MacBook Pro and learning to transfer LP music to my iTunes files and then to my iPod. I also need to continue burning calories by walking as well as by setting up an exercise routine.