Wednesday May 2, 2007 7:25 am Lethbridge Sunrise 6:07 Sunset 20:49 Hours of daylight: 14:42

A. Morning Musings

7:25 am It is +7 C with a high forecast of +20 C.

Here are the news.

CBC Headline: Bill Setting Federal Elections Every 4 Years About To Become Law

The Senate has passed a bill that will require federal elections to be held every four years. The proposed legislation, Bill C-16, which is scheduled to receive royal assent on Thursday, would mean Oct. 19, 2009, is the date of the next general election. After the bill is proclaimed into law, opposition parties will still have the power to force an election earlier than the fixed date if a minority government is defeated in a confidence vote. I view this as a housekeeping item for parliament, one that prevents a prime minister from calling an election when he wants to.

Canadian Headline: see above

Australian Headline: (from The Australian): Labor To 'Fine Tune' IR Policy With Business: Gillard

LABOR will liaise with business on its industrial relations plans, Opposition IR spokeswoman Julia Gillard says, as she continues to fend off mounting criticism the ALP's policy is anti-business. The number of political stories making headlines is a clear indication that the upcoming federal election is likely to be interesting as the Labor party is ahead of Howard in the polls at the moment.

From rear window	South patio
Both images taken at 1:10 PM

B. Actual/Notes

7:35 am Today is a stay-at-home and handle household chores day. There are many little tasks that need attending to, including mowing the lawn and getting my bird watching pages up to date.

1:10 PM Chores are all finished. While checking for a road atlas that shows the rural roads of Alberta I happened to buy 3 other books:

• "The Human Touch" (2006) by Michael Frayn. The subtitle is Our Part in the Creation of the Universe, and it appears to be about how we form ideas, Frayn is a well-known novelist and playwrite.
• "A Year With Rumi" (2006) by Coleman Barks. I have all of Barks books on Rumi and his poetry. This is a delightful collection of a reading-a-day exerpts.
• "An Inconvenient Truth" (2006) by Al Gore. I finally have gotten around to buying this book.

12:00 PM Here are two more photos showing the beginning of the spring activity of the May tree in our backyard.

C. Plan

Immediate
Mathematics	Continue reading "Algebra: Abstract and Concrete" by Frederick Goodman	1 hr
Literature	Read & make notes for book 5 of "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky	1 hr
Birds	Update database to include 2007 Mexico trip	1 hr
	Update data base and web pages for May 1 trip	3 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.

D. Reflection