Tuesday April 24, 2007 6:50 am Lethbridge Sunrise 6:22 Sunset 20:37 Hours of daylight: 14:15

A. Morning Musings

6:40 am It is 0 C with a high forecast of +20 C.

Here are the news.

CBC Headline: YeltsinTo Lie In State, Funeral Wednesday

Boris Yeltsin, former president of Russia, died Monday of heart failure at age 76. He led Russia immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In my eyes Yeltsin foresaw much of the advantages of capitalism but was unable to lead the country in a peaceful transition to such an economy. In fairness, such a peaceful transition may have been impossible.

Canadian Headline: Engineer of Derailed train Missing in BC

A CP Rail train derailed near Trail BC last evening. The three man crew jumped off the diesel unit and two members were uninjured but the engineer has not been found. There is no word yet on why the crew abandoned the unit.

Australian Headline: (from The Australian): No Low-Wage Work Replacements Under Work Choices: PM

Howard says that reports that employers can sack workers and replace them with cheaper labour are incorrect. The coalition government's labour policies appear to be one of the major issues in the upcoming federal election.

My weight is steady at 182. Good.

From rear window	South patio
Both images taken at 11:46 am

B. Actual/Note

7:00 am The sun is shining. We plan to return to Henderson Lake this morning and take some pictures of the waterfowl on the lake. We then hope to drive to a nature reserve in the south-east corner of Alberta and see what birds we can find. The early spring is prime time for bird watching and we want to take advantage of the good weather.

11:30 am Here are two more photos showing the beginning of the spring activity of the May tree in our backyard.

C. Birdwatching

Here is the link for today's birdwatching activities.

D. Plan

Immediate
Mathematics	Continue reading "Algebra: Abstract and Concrete" by Frederick Goodman	1 hr
Literature	Read & make notes for book 4 of "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky	1 hr
Birds	Update database to include 2007 Mexico trip	1 hr
	Bird watching trip to Stirling.	2 hr
Later
Technology	Convert LPs to MP3 format
	Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac"
	Burn backup of images onto DVD
Mathematics	Read & make notes on The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems
	Read "Symmetry" by David Wade
	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
	Follow tutorial for version 8 of 3rd PlanIt
	Continue assembly of coaling tower
	Purchase DCC system
Birds	Create notebook pages birding in Mexico
History	Begin reading "Maya"
	Read Watson "Ideas"
Philosophy	Read & make notes for "Breaking the Spell"
	Begin reading "How Are We To Live?" by Peter Singer
Literature	New York Times easy crossword puzzles
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
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.

E. Reflection