Friday July 28, 2006 5:15 am Lethbridge Alberta Sunrise 5:56 Sunset 9:20 Hours of daylight: 15:24

From rear window	South patio
Both images taken at 12:05 PM

A. Morning Musings

5:15 am It is + 12 C at the moment, with a forecast high of + 30 C. There is a 30% chance of showers this morning.

It seems strange that household chores are no longer much of an item. I plan to assemble my 3 book boxes this morning, but in an important sense I don't view this as a household chore as it is constructive rather than maintenance or repairing. I will wait until after 8 am as I need some larger nails. Also, I don't want to make much noise before 9 am in case nearby neighbours are sleeping. Once the box is assembled I need to cut the masonite backing to size. I hope to be all done before noon. Then I will begin painting them tomorrow. This will take one primer coat and two coats of white glossy enamel.

I expect to finish the second volume of the Thomas Covenant series today.

My weight this morning was 189. This is the first time in over a month where I was under 190, so it is a start toward getting back to 180. The formula, as always, is to burn more calories than I consume. Easy to say, not quite so easy to follow. We are back to our early morning walks which is helping. Perhaps I should build in an afternoon walk to the coulee as well, which I could combine with bird watching.

My model train activities are slowing down but I hope to improve on this shortly. First, I want to see what the masonite leftovers from the book boxes look like. I might be able to use them for a base for the oil refinery diorama and also for the control panel for the Lower Mainline. As a result of some email banter with Allan I am beginning to think of the oil refinery as a distillery for making scotch. What is the hobby for, if not for having some fun? It is tempting to imagine hooking up a few small plastic tubes and making the distillery operational. Then I need to convert one of my tank cars appropriately and I can see a scenario where I load the car at the distillery and deliver it to a siding near the control panel where the operator can have a sip (off-duty, of course). The mind is a wonderful thing, at least in the morning.

I am also thinking of driving out to Waterton for a day trip. We have yet to make it to the mountains since returning from Australia. The real goal will be to check a couple of campgrounds and see if there are sites available at this time of year. Our 5th wheel is ready and we now need to make use of it!

B. Plan

Immediate
Health	Walk & exercise	1 hr
Chores	Build 3 more book boxes: cut backing to size and assemble; paint primer coat	4 hr
Model Trains	Wire lower mainline track for a power block	1 hr
	Cut base to size for my refinery diorama	1 hr
	Assemble wooden trestle kit	1 hr
Literature	Continue reading "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever: The Illearth War"	1 hr
Later
Chores	Repair grouting on a few kitchen tiles	1 hr
	Stain compost bin	2 hr
	Edge front lawn along sidewalk	3 hr
	Investigate water softeners for home	2 hr
Technology	Read manual for cell phone	1 hr
	add keywords to iPhoto records
	Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac"	2 hr
	Begin reading "iPhoto"	1 hr
	digital photography - learn about using the various manual settings
Mathematics	Larson "Calculus"
	Read "The Computational Beauty of Nature" Chap 2	1 hr
	Gardner "The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles"
History	Continue reading "Citizens"
	Watson "Ideas"
Model Trains	Add blue backdrop to layout	2 hr
	Assemble second oil platform kit
	Review layout for under the table turnouts

C. Actual/Notes

8:00 PM After our morning walk I began to assemble the book boxes. It all worked very well. I then cut the backing from the masonite and they fit perfectly I was really pleased. The remaining piece of masonite is exactly the right size for the oil refinery diorama. Talk about luck.

Then in the afternoon I decided to sand everything and apply the primer coat of paint. That was two days' work in one. Now I need to buy the white gloss paint and apply two more coats. One step at a time.

D. Reflection