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It is +6 C with a high forecast of +14 C. Sunrise 8:07 Sunset 18:23 Hours of daylight: 10:16.
See current Lethbridge forecast here. See current Lethbridge news here.
This page last updated on: Saturday, October 25, 2008 8:09 AM
Early morning, a fresh cuppa, and a chance to muse.
But first I need to play with technology for a bit. My web server is full and I need to download a few older sites and free up some space. I will also contact the uni later this morning and see if it is possible to receive more space.
I am still a little worried about trying to do too many things at once. Thus I have put mathematics (both calculus and symmetry) on the back burner. But the front burner still has Literature, geology, history, model trains and geocaching - not in any particular order.
Model Trains: I am building 4 cylindrical hopper kits. I need 2 pair of Kadee #555 trucks as well as a package of 33" wheels. I am also interested in obtaining some HO scale bases for making manual throw turnouts. I would like to have a DCC-ready steam locomotive (CN) that I can use for local freight movement. And I would like to implement the complete Ship It! software package.
Geocaching: This is becoming more interesting as I continue to see parts of southern Alberta that I have never even suspected were worth a trip. I can combine this with bird watching, but I need to emphasize one or the other on a particular trip.
| Learning Category | Planned Activities for Today | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Technology | Reorganize a few web sites on the server | 1 hr |
| Literature | Continue reading "Through Black Spruce" by Joseph Boyden | 1 hr |
| Science | Continue reading "Canada Rocks" by Eyles & Miall | 1 hr |
| Geocaching | Plan & find 4 caches in wetlands area near par 3 course | 3 hr |
| History | Continue reading "A Fair Country" by John Ralston Saul | 1 hr |
| Model Trains | Continue building kits for 4 cylindrical hopper cars | 2 hr |
Let me try to put in my own words the early beginnings of planet Earth.
The big bang that resulted in the universe(s) occurred about 14 billion years ago. Then about 4.5 billion years ago, matter began to accrete together in the general area of 93 million miles from the sun. This combination of rocky material, minerals and gas quickly (over a period of about 30 million years) heated up due to the combination of impacts, gravity and pressure inside the mass as well as radioactive decay of some minerals and elements until the planet was a molten ball of matter. This ball then began to differentiate with the heavier elements moving to the center of the ball. The result was a solid metal core surrounded by a large (deep) magma (i.e. molten rock) ocean. A thin crust formed on the surface. This thin crust eventually sank and now forms a liquid layer surrounding the solid metallic core. This very hot layer forms plumes of magma that reach the surface at areas called hot spots. At the same time that the crust was forming the planet began to form an atmosphere, initially primarily of hydrogen, that resulted from the release of gas from the molten rock in the mantle.
The next major development was the formation of the oceans and the continents. Water was expelled from the minerals deep in the mantle that were heated by the radioactive decay of uranium and some other minerals. It is estimated that about 90% of the earth's water originated in the mantle. Oceans are a critical pre-cursor to the next step. Before the oceans the crust was formed of basalt (essentially solidified magma). But once there were oceans, then much of the magma came to the "surface" underwater. The contact of the magma with the water formed a different type of rock called andesite which is lighter than basalt. This lighter rock then is the basis for the formation of the continents. These large lighter land masses then float on the dynamic but slow flowing convection currents in the mantle. This process is called plate techtonics and is the basis for all geology for the last 4 billion years. The last step was the formation of life on the planet - a process that is not yet well understood but began with the formation of bacteria. There were clearly simple life forms on Earth 3 billion years ago.
That is the "big picture". Geology is the study of the fine details of this process, particularly of those processes that are active today.
I have prepared a Planning Sheet to find 4 caches just north of here. Three are in the Elizabeth Hall Wetlands area near the par 3 golf course and the other is underneath the west end of the railway bridge at the top of the coulee. I did not realize that one could get fairly close to this area by car. I was also surprised to realize that one of the caches in the wetlands area was only 3 days old. I have downloaded 3 of the caches to my GPS unit - the new one is not yet available on the MyGarmin web site but I should be able to find it by using the coordinates. The weather is windy and cool. I will wait a couple of hours before deciding if I want to venture out.
I have completed assembly step 4 (the brake system) for one of my cylindrical hopper cars. This took almost 2 hours as it was very finicky work. Use the link to the Dale's Depot web site and then today's date (use the back arrow of your browser to return to this page).
Some geocaching days are better than others. The weather today made holding onto one's hat, camera & GPS unit (all at once) a challenge. The wind was 50 kph with gusts to 70. I headed out at 1 PM and was back home at 3 PM, all 4 safely logged in as Found. Here are the reports:
This brings my total number of Found caches to 44.
Books on the Go Today |
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