Spent yesterday volunteering at the James Randi Educational Foundation, doing manual work and getting to know people. I moved furniture, cleaned up trash, painted a door and pasted errata sheets into books. And everybody was so nice to me! Loads of good conversation and silly jokes. I’m here as a representative of the Swedish Skeptics Society, so I make an effort to overcome my retiring personality and make as many new contacts as I can.

Jeff Wagg bought me breakfast at Denny’s. Our party was accosted by a Christian lady who overheard us talking about atheism and wanted us to repent! I almost thought I was on Candid Camera there for a sec. The JREF’s founder took me for a drive in his blue sports car, bought me lunch and regaled me for an hour with stories of grave robbing in Peru, among many other topics. Writer of a hundred books Bart Farkas drove me back to the hotel and bought me drinks. Finally, Rebecca the Skepchick entertained me at dinner and tried to bully me (and everybody else within earshot) into taking a nocturnal swim in the hotel pool. Good times!
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