Tuesday, June 28, 2011 Lethbridge
6:00 am
The temperature is +14 C, with a high predicted of +27 C.
From the Environment Canada website:
Today Increasing cloudiness. High 27. UV index 6 or high. Tonight Clearing late this evening. Wind becoming southwest 20 km/h gusting to 40 this evening. Low 15. Normals Max: 24°C Min: 10°C.
8:00 am Model Trains
I have downloaded the free software from MRC that gives me control over the DCC system for my model train layout. This is a Windows only software package so it is on the Dell laptop that I bought recently. I have also downloaded the manual. I still need a USB interface component before I can actually use this software.
3:00 PM
More yard work chores - filling in a few cracks in the mortar and driveway, washing windows, mowing the lawn, plus some shopping for paint as well as groceries. This all takes time.
6:00 PM Cooking
The challenge today was to use some leftover chicken in a recipe. I found something called Impossible Mexicali Chicken Pie. I played with the ingredients but it turned out quite good. The main ingredients were chicken pieces, niblet corn, jalapeno monterey jack cheese, sliced pimento green olives, sauteed onion plus an egg/milk/bisquick mixture to make a quichey mixture. Then a spoon of salsa on the top after it was served. A Chilean wine to savor with the food. Delicious.
10:00 PM History
I found time this evening for a little reading of Champlain's biography. Fischer makes some nice comparison's between Champlain's approach to settlement and colonization with that of the English and Spaniards (and with other French explorers as well). Not only does Fischer emphasize Champlain's humanistic beliefs but shows how these developed as a result of the religious wars in Europe as Champlain was growing up.
People are not autonomous individuals but are the complex consequence of many factors, many of which are the result of interpersonal interactions with other people and thus of the culture one experiences early in life. We tend to emphasize the personality of key personages and fail to give proper weight to the situation that they find themselves in.