Wednesday June 14, 2006 6:25 am Lethbridge Alberta

A. Morning Musings

6:25 am The temperature is + 14 C with a high forecast of + 19. We had a severe thunderstorm overnight. It began about 10 PM and ended around 3 am. When the wind shifted to a westerly we had some water come into the garage through the back door. This is a perennial problem. The only solution that I can envisage involves building a shelter over part of the patio that would prevent rain from reaching the doorway. We have been thinking about this for a couple of years. Maybe it is time to add it to the list of home tasks. There is more rain forecast for the next couple of days. I may decide to postpone the parging but will wait until 10 am before making a decision. I would like to tamp the ground before starting the parging, but I am afraid that the ground is too moist for that.

I also want to look at some sealing compounds for the join between the garage floor and the wall of the house. And the minor flooding during the night brought home the fact that we need a couple of new flashlights.

I will phone Fountain Tire and see if they can put on 4 new tires later this afternoon. But first the car goes into the Toyota dealer for regular maintenance at noon.

I should check with the university about any last minute forms that need to be filled in regarding my pension and health coverage.

My days appear to be devoted to "life" activities. I am Learning a lot about mortaring cement blocks, pouring cement, and framing doors. It is a very enjoyable time: the day is full of new experiences and there is the reward of feeling at the end of the day that quality is job one and that each new task has been well carried out.

Now to download my latest images from the camera and add some of these to this web site.

We are also doing some serious thinking about purchasing a new computer. We definitely are thinking laptop but are still weighing the pros and cons of a Dell PC or a Mac Powerbook Pro. The Mac is more expensive (3K versus 2K) but we are intrigued with its ability to run PC software. I would like to see one in operation before making a final decision.

B. Plan

Immediate
Chores	Rent tamper from Ward's rentals for tamping sidewalk base	2 hr
	Apply parging to front basement wall	2 hr
	Buy sand and lay on foundation	4 hr
	Buy patio bricks and install	6 hr
	Buy two new flashlights	1 hr
	Buy sealant for join between garage floor and wall	1 hr
	Buy muriatic acid for removing mortar from blocks	1 hr
	Clean mortar from cement blocks in rear fence	2 hr
	Take Toyota in for maintenance	1 hr
	Take Toyota in to Fountain Tire for new tires	1 hr
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
	Investigate water softeners for home	2 hr
	Paint door frame white	1 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
	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

8:30 am I have finally updated this website and published it to the server.

Previous	Food 4	Next
Food Chronology
6:30 PM I am staying with the book "A Flash in the Pan" as I learn what is involved in woking. I made a morning trip to the Asian Foodmarket to buy some cellophane noodles (aka rice noodles), dried shitaki mushrooms and chilli oil. The people in the store are very helpful in showing one where the various items are located. This recipe is more like a traditional wok recipe in that it is a basic stir fry with meat and noodles. I want to get to the stage where I don't use the recipe book, but where I have a general sense of what to add and how to prepare it. I have already learned that it is critical to have all of the ingredients ready before beginning to heat the wok. Once the cooking commences everything happens very quickly. Most of the food is only cooked for a couple of minutes before the next item is added. The book typically recommends about 3 tablespoons of (canola) oil for frying but since the wok is teflon coated I am finding that too much. Next time I will try just 1 tablespoon and see what happens. This was also my first experience with dried mushrooms. I think I have that under control now. They need to soak in water for about 20 minutes before using. The same is true for the rice noodles. The recipe starts to kick in when preparing a marinade for the pork. This involved ginger, soy sauce, chilli sauce, rice wine (sake), and garlic. Green spring onions are also a common addition, as is coriander (cilantro). I would rate this dish as excellent. The noodles were superb and the overall mix of flavors was delicious. I would give it a score of 4 chopsticks out of 5. That reminds me - we forgot to use chopsticks when eating. Next time. We had beer as an accompaniment which was a good idea. I have yet to take any action photos of me preparing the food. 7:00 PM

 

8:05 PM A good day. I handed in my office key at the uni this morning, then did some shopping at the Asian Food store. I had a brief chat with my accountant about the executor's account. Everything seems to be in order. I notified the lawyer's office that the latest version of the executor's statement seems fine. I then bought 2 flashlights for the house. I took the Toyota in for maintenance, did some slow reading of "Citizens", then came home and took the bottles to the recycling depot. The highlight was my second effort with the wok. I enjoyed this meal "Cellophane Noodles with Pork" much more than the first one. I am feeling much more comfortable with the steps and the speed that is required when one actually begins to cook. Now to watch the third period of the hockey game between Edmonton and Carolina (currently the score is 3 - 3).

9:00 PM Edmonton won the game in overtime to prolong the series which Carolina leads 3 games to 2.

D. Reflection