Sunday February 5, 2006 5:10 am Ballina NSW

A. Morning Musings

5:10 am Our Sunday morning plans are for brunch at the Beach Cafe (a.k.a. "The Office") in Byron Bay. It is still dark outside but the roads are wet. We shall see... This is another early morning - I hope I can maintain this as I think it is the best time of the day. I am fresh and alert this morning and eager for some serious Learning. 5:30 am

5:30 am It is raining at the moment.

B. Plan

Chores: none

Exercise: Exercise & Beach walk.

Mathematics: Notes for chap. 10 - 12 "Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz".

Philosophy: Notes for Wordplay, p. 1 - 60. 5:35 am

C. Actual

5:35 am To complete my notes for "Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz". Done.

One of the great values in this book was the way it opened doors that had long been closed and forgotten. Symmetry and the infinite are now back on my agenda for further Learning. It also rekindled excitement in the topic. Mathematics may involve some hard work, but the overall activity should be one of enjoyment and pleasure. Learning mathematics is not a modern form of self-flagellation, it is a modern form of self-indulgence, like chocolate. I have also identified my next math book for digestion: "Everything and More: A Concise History of Infinity".

I thought I would now make a few notes for Philosophy, based on my early reading of "Wordplay", but have just realized that I have yet to set up a web site for Philosophy. This shouldn't take too long, but it is now time to think about getting ready for Byron Bay. It is overcast and breezy so I'm not sure if the markets will be on. But a nice brunch at the Bay is still a grand idea. 7:00 am

12:10 PM The Office was still in good nick. A combination of drizzly weather and early hour (8:00 am) meant we had a choice of tables - unusual at any time. Here is a photo of me in The Office:

Allan mentioned another Panasonic camera that I might consider, but didn't have the model number at his fingertips. When we returned to the unit I realized that I had a printout of it sitting on the kitchen table. From his description it is clear that he was thinking of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 (where do they get these numbers from?). I did a quick search on the Web and found a superb Canadian site ( www.camera-warehouse.ca ) out of Olds (!) Alberta. There appear to be two main differences between the cameras:

• resolution: Panasonic is 8 megapixels, Canon is 5. The higher resolution may make a difference in the quality of the images at the higher zoom settings.
• price: Panasonic suggested at $820. Cdn, Canon at $570. Cdn.

Is the extra $250. worth the price? I think so. It should help with bird identification and the higher quality may be the start of a new hobby - digital photography. 12:30 PM

12:30 PM Now to make a Philosophy web site so I may make notes for the book "Wordplay" that I have begun reading. This should be relatively easy as all I need to do is copy the History web site and make a few editorial changes. I have completely finished the Philospophy web site, including scans of the covers of the 5 books and 2 magazines. This only took one hour. All that remains is to make my actual notes for the first 60 pages of the Langdon book. 1:30 PM

3:30 PM This has been another satisfying day. I have created a Philosophy web site and made some notes on the book I am now reading. I completed my notes for a mathematics book. I have done a fairly extensive review of digital cameras and am about ready to make a final decision. And we are experimenting with another recipe from the stir-fry book tonight: "Chicken Sausage Stir-fry".

8:40 PM Here are a few images of the evening meal and following beach walk.

	ingredients ready for the pan
chicken sausage on the grill
dinner
	crab (about 6 ")
Shelly beach

We checked our bird books when we returned and have now identified another lifer - this time the Black-shouldered Kite. The white-fanned tail plus the hovering with a rapid wing-beat were the critical criteria.

D. Reflection 9:00 PM A much cooler day with the overcast sky. Walking the Byron Bay markets was quite pleasant. Another satisfying day with a mathematics book finished, a new web site created (Philosophy), a final decision on the digital camera is immanent, a new recipe successfully tried and a new bird identified.

I plan to go into the uni in the morning and obtain the key to my office and then undertake some serious web work (updating my web sites, conducting some final digital camera reviews, completing my AusBirds web site and sending an email to order the camera. 9:10 PM