Monday June 12, 2006 6:30 am Lethbridge Alberta

A. Morning Musings

6:30 am The temperature is + 10 C with a high forecast of + 21. It is still overcast with a possibility of showers.

We are off to Calgary again this morning. I hope to be able to chat with someone from Trains and Such to discuss details about my layout using DCC.

Tomorrow I will return to the sidewalk activities. In an ideal world I should be able to do the parging, obtain and lay down the sand, and obtain and begin laying down the patio bricks.

I am using this web site to help me keep track of the various activities as we settle back into our home and as I approach retirement. This seems to be working quite well. I have 15 different categories of Learning that I am monitoring as well as a number of "life" tasks, the most time consuming at the moment being the replacement of the front sidewalk.

One of the dilemmas while engaging in an activity is whether to interrupt to activity to take a photo of the process. In general I have leaned toward not taking the photo, the obvious exception being bird watching. But since returning home I am aware that I no longer have many images on these pages, which seems to detract from their overall appearance. I will try to rectify this a bit by taking a few images of work that has been completed around the house. Done.

One advantage of this early morning activity is that it gives me an opportunity to add to my lists.

B. Plan

Immediate
Chores	Apply parging to front basement wall	2 hr
	Buy sand and lay on foundation	4 hr
	Buy patio bricks and install	6 hr
	Clean mortar from cement blocks in rear fence	2 hr
	Take Toyota in for maintenance & new tires
Health	Walk & exercise	1 hr
Literature	Continue reading "A Dream of Eagles: The Singing Sword"	1 hr
Mathematics	Gardner "The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles"	1 hr
Later
Chores	Take 5th wheel in for maintenance	2 hr
	Take Toyota in for maintenance	1 hr
	Investigate water softeners for home	2 hr
History	Continue reading "Citizens"	1 hr
Technology	Read manual for cell phone	1 hr
Technology	digital photography
	try using extender lens and monopod	2 hr
Mathematics	Larson "Calculus"
History	Watson "Ideas"
Model Trains	Add blue backdrop to layout
	Show wiring diagram to people at Trains & Such	2 hr
	Review layout for under the table turnouts
	Wire lower mainline track for a power block
	Fasten lower mainline track to layout
	Draw schematic diagram of track layout	2 hr

C. Actual/Notes

7:30 am Here are a couple of photos of our cement work as we remove the cement sidewalk and reframe the door.

Before	After
New dwarf mugo pine	Fountain in backyard patio

Previous	Model Trains 8	Next
Model Trains Chronology
7:00 PM We are back from Calgary. I had an excellent chat with a person from Trains and Such about DCC. Here are a few points I learned: the 14 gauge wires (both of them) do not need to form a complete circuit. That is optional. It is okay to simply put a tape on the end of the wire. I should view the web sites for Lenz and North Coast Engineering (NCE) ( ncedcc.com ). I rough estimate for a DCC starter set for one power block would be $350. There is a package called a PM42 that is a gang of four chips that can control 4 reverse loops or power districts. I have 2 reverse loops and 2 power districts so this should be exactly what I need. Now to see if I can find out more about this on the Web. A decoder chip for each turnout costs about $20. A decoder chip for a locomotive costs about $30. There are chips that can control 2, 4 or 6 units, but it is best to keep things simple by not going beyond 2. I should decide if I want radio (i.e. wireless) before I begin. MRC is supposed to have a wireless unit available this fall. The NCE starter package is the most expensive at $690., but it may well be worth the price. The ease of use of the hand control is a very important factor. I also bought 4 magazines: DCC Made Easy by Lionel Strang (2003). This looks like an excellent beginners manual. Trackwork and Lineside Detail for Your Model Railroad by Kent Johnson (2000). This has some excellent articles on the preparation and laying of track. Exactly what I need for my next step. Canadian Railway Modeller. November - December 2005. Canadian Railway Modeller. January - February 2006. The latter two issues supplement the March - April 2006 issue that I bought on my previous trip to the store. 7:30 PM

D. Reflection