February 23

Saturday February 23, 2008 5:05 am Lethbridge, Alberta

It is -7 C with a high forecast of +8 C. Sunrise 7:27 Sunset 18:02 Hours of daylight: 10:35

10:10 am

A. Morning Musings

My first thought this morning is to relax. I now have the problem with the model trains solved. There is still much that needs to be done before the layout is fully finished and operational. But now the focus will be on improvements and operational running rather than on problem solving.

I enjoyed Rumi this morning.

The snow is continuing to melt but the low overnight temperatures means that it takes until noon for the temperature to begin thawing the ice that formed during the night.

Now to make a cup of coffee and then give a little more thought to the day.

... Coffee is in hand. Now for a thought.

Learning Category	Planned Activities for Today	Time
Literature	Begin morning with a Rumi reading
Literature	Complete reading "Snow" by Orhan Pamuk	2 hr
Model Trains	Begin assembling a manual ground throw for turnout	2 hr

B. Actual Learning Activities

5:40 am

A good friend phoned me a couple of days ago and asked if I had heard about the TED awards. I said nope, and he suggested that I have a look at it on the Web. Done. ( http://www.ted.com/index.php/pages/view/id/5 ) This is a grand idea. Another friend has put me on to SL (Second Life: http://secondlife.com/ ). Good friends are valuable. They are also fun to be with.

Both of these Web sites were brought to my attention by people, not by a link that I found while browsing the Web. Yet both sites are fundamentally an emergent phenomenon of the Web. There is a symbiotic and fascinating dialectic between the social and emotional desire to be with others and the desire to be an individual with periods of quiet and solitude. Web conferences (particularly AusWeb) are venues where people get together to share ideas that they often form while thinking alone. Each venue reinforces the other.

I like to think. I became interested in computers 40 years ago because they were environments where one had to think. I liked to play chess as a boy for the same reason. I now prefer GO, but they are both games of strategy. GO has more appeal to me because it seems to have a better dynamic for combining offense and defense at the same time. I have always liked simulations. Chess and GO may both be viewed as a simulation of warfare, although I prefer the metaphor of a problem solving environment. Model trains are a form of simulation - both of real railway systems as well as a simplified problem solving environment. So is Second Life. In fact one can think of one's self as a simplified simulation of society as a whole.

I like Barak Obama's campaign slogan, "Washington is where good ideas go to die". It occurs to me that many words may be substituted for "Washington". One such word is School. Good ideas require a stimulating and dynamic environment in which to thrive. Schools are stimulating and dynamic from a social perspective but not from an intellectual and emotional perspective. Perhaps we should shift the balance so that children spend less time in school and more time on the Web. The implications of this are fascinating. Think about it.

10:50 am

I have successfully assembled and installed my first Caboose Industries Ground Throw. It is the first of what will be many manual ground throws on my spur lines. The Identification Number for this turnout is T451. The 4 means it is in the Black Diamond District, the 5 means it is on a spur line, and the 1 is a sequence number.

I am pleased with this activity. It turned out to be much easier than I originally thought. I can now continue with this idea and will install about 30 more of these in the coming months. The main issue is always the first one. Once I understand what is involved, I can proceed to do the rest.

turnout
Caboose Industries Ground Throw

Most of the remaining ground throws will be a high stand, but the basic principle will be the same.

9:00 PM

Snow (2004)

Orhan Pamuk

I finished this novel a few minutes ago. There have been a few times in the last week where I have put this novel down, closed my eyes, and thought about the situation he was describing.

The story itself builds to a fine climax. With only a few pages to go, I was still in suspense as to the ending. Thus, as a story, it is first rate.

But its real strength is in the portrayal of the characters and the Turkish culture, particularly in the eastern part of the country where it borders on Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Georgia & Azerbaijan. The contrast between Europe and Turkey (and to some extent the Middle East) is described repeatedly. Pamuk conveys the sensibility of being Turkish in a country and a culture that is strikingly different than that of its "richer" European neighbours.

He spends considerable time viewing the world through the eyes of extremist Islamists as well as corrupt politicians and police, all the while noting the passive reaction of the majority of the population. No one is stupid, but many are poor. He also spends some time describing the issues surrounding the wearing of head scarves by Islamic women and moves from that to the much broader issue of suicide among women. This is not just a good story, but a novel that makes one reflect on the state of much of our world, and the necessity to learn more about other cultures than simply using a few labels. We need to appreciate the commonality of all people as well as their diversity.

I have one more book on my shelves by Pamuk, Istanbul, which is an autobiographical description of the the city Pamuk has lived in all his life. I am looking forward to reading this in the near future. But for the moment I want to let Snow settle and think about both the joy and despair of being alive in the 21st century.

Tags: Turkey, political novel