Friday June 23, 2006 5:00 am Lethbridge Alberta

A. Morning Musings

5:00 am The temperature is + 9 C with a high forecast of + 22. There is a 40% chance of showers this afternoon, and again tomorrow. Then sunshine.

Today will be a yard day. The sand has dried out and it is time to begin trying to lay down the patio bricks. I have a pallet of 250 bricks waiting for me at the landscaping company and I will begin be picking up 50 of them this morning and seeing how it begins. At some point I will have to rent a "brick guillotine" to trim some of them to size and shape. The flowers need watering and the lawn needs mowing.

The 2 hour Learning block for today will be devoted to learning to use the MacBook Pro. I will also try to spend a little time on "The Computational Beauty of Nature".

B. Plan

Immediate
Chores	Install patio bricks	6 hr
Health	Walk & exercise	1 hr
Model Trains	Add blue backdrop to layout	2 hr
History	Continue reading "Citizens"	2 hr
Literature	Continue reading "The Eagles' Brood"	1 hr
Mathematics	Read "The Computational Beauty of Nature" Chap 2	1 hr
Later
Chores	Clean mortar from cement blocks in rear fence	2 hr
	Buy sealant for join between garage floor and wall
	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"
	Gardner "The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles"
History	Watson "Ideas"
Model Trains	Review layout for under the table turnouts
	Visit Lethbridge Model Train club at 7 PM on Tues	2 hr
	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

4:00 PM A very satisfying day. I brought the patio bricks over (4 trips) and have completely laid the sidewalk with the exception of the edges where I need to trim the bricks to size. That will be another new experience - maybe tomorrow. I want to look at the sidewalk again tomorrow when I am fresh. I am very pleased with the overall pattern and how well the bricks fit together (there is a real technique to this that I am just beginning to get the hang of). However there is a bit of a rise in the center that I think should be removed. That will mean removing about a third of the bricks and then removing some of the sand. I will think about this overnight and make a decision in the morning.

When I checked the email system about 2:00 PM it was still not working, so I phoned the university. It turns out that they replaced the email server and the new system wouldn't recognize any of the previous passwords. It took me about 20 minutes to get everything working again.

After putting down the bricks I then mowed the lawn and watered all the flowers. I think that pretty well takes care of the yard for today. Time for a beer and a rest.

D. Reflection