Tuesday October 24, 2006 6:20 PM Lethbridge Sunrise 8:07 Sunset 18:24 Hours of daylight: 10:17

A. Morning Musings

6:20 PM It is +12 C at the moment.

B. Plan

Immediate
Health	Walk & exercise	1 hr
Model Trains	Assembly of CN 5930, an SD40-2 with a NAFTA logo	1 hr
Mathematics	Read "Fearless Symmetry" chap 6	1 hr
	Continue reading "The Equation that Couldn't be Solved"	1 hr
Literature	Continue reading "Standing Stones" by John Metcalf	2 hr
Later
Chores	Investigate water softeners for home
Technology	Read manual for cell phone
	Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac"
	Begin reading "iPhoto"
	digital photography - learn about using the various manual settings
Literature	Read "The Art of Living" by Epictetus
	Read "The Song of Roland"
Mathematics	Larson "Calculus"
	Read "The Computational Beauty of Nature" Chap 3
	Gardner "The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles"
History	Continue reading "Citizens"
	Watson "Ideas"
Model Trains	Build oil refinery diorama: add ground cover
	Assemble second oil platform kit
Puzzles	The Orange Puzzle Cube: puzzle #9

C. Actual/Notes

7:45 PM We are back from an overnight trip to Calgary.

While in Calgary I visited the model train shop. I had no difficulty finding some HO-scale round hay bales (8) and a "nodding head" oil pump. The book "Created in Kingston" was out of stock, but they said they would order me one and notify me when it comes in. The fellow who is the expert on DCC was not in, so my questions on DCC will wait for another day. I then happened to see a 200 ton crane & tender with CN colors which would be used to put derailed cars back on the track. The price was surprising low and I couldn't resist adding it to my collection.

On the way home we stopped at Frank Lake (between High River & Vulcan) and did some bird watching. I have been looking at my photos and can say that we saw the following:

• Common Snipe
• Short-billed Dowitcher
• Rough-legged Hawk
• Northern Harrier
• Bufflehead

3 Common Snipe, 1 Short-billed Dowitcher	Rough-legged Hawk

 

We also saw a few examples of another shorebird, but have not been able to positively identify it. Our best guess is some form of sandpiper. The first three were all lifers, bringing our total to 116. It also brought our total of 2006 birds to 71.

D. Reflection