Hangin' with skeptics

I have been working on other things, but I do have a few more posts ready -- mostly photographs because I haven't been keeping the best written record. Sad, I know.
` In my last post, and in my next post after this, there's some nice photos from camping. In this post, I vaguely document my entry into the skeptical community -- that is, people who promote critical thinking and emphasize problem-solving as well as not being swindled.

July 19, 2011:

After a while of getting lost, I found the pub in which the skeptics are meeting. This week's guest is Ophelia Benson -- who has a website about various world issues, called Butterflies and Wheels.

I didn't pay much attention, mainly because I had ordered a delicious salad and it didn't come to the table. So, I was really hungry during her talk. Then again, she went on mostly about feminism (and of course someone else brought up Elevatorgate) more than anything, so for the most part I guess I didn't miss much.
` I also met some cool people, including Meg Winston, who was also a victim of abuse/brainwashing, and she says there's a kind of effective, evidence-based therapy that she's actually involved in assisting. Don't remember what it's called, though. I should ask her.

After the talk, I got a cool picture of train station clock tower.

In the following days, I got some other cool pictures, too. Here's the neighbors' roses:

It's amazing how well the flowers in our flowerbed look despite our not tending them much:

Vada seems to be a lot happier now that Rusty has stopped coming back to the house. My poor giant fluffy kitten! I wonder where he is?

July 21 or 22?

I'M TALKING TO EVAN BERNSTEIN OF SKEPTICS GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE ON SKYPE! W00T!!! I got a picture of Lucas getting in on the conversation.

I guess that's hard to see. Also, Evan looks kind of like Bruce Willis. Ha! I got another picture later, with the camera at the right angle to see my laptop screen.

Whatever did I do to earn this? Why, I only chatted with Evan on Facebook and have a hilarious sense of humor, which he likes a lot, and said he wanted help making a blog, which I helped him with indeed.
` He said, though, that he might not actually start a blog for a while because he's learning how to be an accountant, and accounting might take up a lot of his time. Exciting, I know.

Not too long after that night, Roommate Troy noticed that there was a leak coming from the water heater. I called Lucas about it and he freaked out and came home from work, saying that leaking water heaters can't be left unattended or they will flood your entire floor!
` So, off came the insulation and it turned out that this water heater was installed a month after I was born (May 1982!). That's a long-lived water heater, alright! I guess we got our money's worth.

Lucas hooked a hose up to its little spigot and slowly got the water drained out of it. Not only did I miss going to the gym at my regular Lull Time, but when I caught the next Lull Time, I also took a shower there because we don't have hot water.
` Unfortunately, all the gym showers in the womens' locker room have no COLD water! Lucas told me that I was wrong, because the men's showers have cold water, but I tested all the faucets and found that they have two settings; scalding and off.
` I also got a picture of the gym, along with the sign of the really crappy Tae Kwon Do place where everyone completely sucks and Lucas teaches us not to do the stupid things they do. The funny thing is, it's called Tae Kwon Do Way, and since 'Do' means 'Way', Lucas and I call these folks the 'Tae Kwon Do-Dos'!

Here's me the next day, missing my poor giant kitten Rusty:

I was also staring at the moon:

And poking Vada with a stick!

"Do not poke me!"

And I saw a NASA Plane!

Anyway, my next post will be of the Goat Lake Trail camping trip that Lucas and I did, complete with pictures of the really great scenery! To see just the photos, and a lot more photos, here's my July photos Flickr page!

Did I forget anything? Oh yes, the hot water heater. I found this guy from Ireland and England, on Crigslist, who had a big garage sale, and was selling stuff people gave him while remodeling their trailers, including a fairly new hot water heater, also an overhead fan, a garbage disposal, a toilet, and other things that we needed, including a scissoring lawnmower!
` Everything put together was only $100! How lucky was that! We just had to go there and get it! We got the hot water heater replaced within a few days (we needed some help for that), and now we're just waiting on getting the cash for help with getting the downstairs toilet uninstalled.
` I can't wait for that, considering that both my roommates have to share the same bathroom, and it's also right in front of my bedroom, and the fan is really loud, so it's waking me up all hours of the night.

Got to go -- am very busy all the time, but next post will be up soon!