Tuesday June 20, 2006 7:10 am Lethbridge Alberta

A. Morning Musings

7:10 am The temperature is + 10 C with a high forecast of + 19. It rained overnight and more is forecast for today. Another day of rest before I get the sand and patio stones.

The parging went well. This is a cement covering that I applied to the vertical surface of the foundation.

I have a couple of minor chores to attend to: paying the auto insurance and checking my health coverage under my new status of "retired". Then tonight I will visit the model train club and ask a few questions about DCC.

The MacBook is in the FedEx offices in Calgary. I am not sure when it will arrive here, but maybe today.

I seem to have my "activities" organized for the day but I am not happy with my overall strategy for Learning. I have many (too many?) threads on the go, and worse, I am ignoring all of them. It occurs to me that I should identify one item each day and block out 2 hours for that. Once that is finished I may decide to add another item and repeat the process.

I will try this today. The Learning goal will be to spend 2 hours reading, and possibly making notes, for "Citizens". The next question is where. Staying at home is the obvious choice. But it would be nice to have a couple of places where I could go, sip a coffee, and work quietly.

B. Plan

Immediate
Chores	Buy sand and lay on foundation
	Buy muriatic acid for removing mortar from blocks	.5 hr
Health	Walk & exercise	1 hr
Model Trains	Add blue backdrop to layout	2 hr
	Visit Lethbridge Model Train club at 7 PM	2 hr
History	Continue reading "Citizens"	2 hr
Literature	Begin reading "The Eagles' Brood"	1 hr
Mathematics	Gardner "The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles"	1 hr
Later
	Buy patio bricks and install
	Buy sealant for join between garage floor and wall
	Clean mortar from cement blocks in rear fence
	Take 5th wheel in for maintenance	2 hr
	Investigate water softeners for home	2 hr
	Paint door frame white	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	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

5:35 PM The MacBook Pro arrived about 2:20 PM. I quickly unpacked it, plugged it in, and powered it up. It has been almost 10 years since I last used a Mac. It felt good and familiar. The computer recognized my home wireless network but it wouldn't let me connect to it. For some reason it didn't like the password I was using, even though I am pretty sure it was correct.

The computer fits nicely into an old briefcase that I last used almost 10 years ago as well. I took it into the uni to have some software installed and am hopeful that it will be ready to be picked up late tomorrow afternoon. I have asked them to test the wireless connectivity to verify that it works. That will help isolate the problem to my system.

Still no further word on when I am likely to receive the iPod that was the second part of the order.

Earlier this morning I handled the insurance and then I dropped in at the Penny Cafe downtown for a coffee and a quiet read of "Citizens". I found another hour just before the Mac arrived so that activity was met. I have spent the last hour reading "The Eagles Brood". It feels good to be getting back to some Learning activities, but the weather remains cool and wet, making it difficult to finish the sidewalk. I have yet to her back from the uni about my pension details - I suspect the individual I am working with is out of town...

I still plan to visit the Model Train club this evening and see what I can learn about DCC.

8:35 PM I stopped off at a hardware store and bought some muriatic acid to remove the concrete mortar from the cement blocks of the backyard fence. But my efforts to visit the Model Train club failed - I couldn't find the location. As near as I can tell, they have moved to a new location. But I was unable to find an address in the phone book or on the web. I will try to get this sorted out tomorrow when the model train store is open.

D. Reflection