Catching up

I need to catch you up about the events of the weekend. Quite a few things have happened since last Friday.

On Saturday, I attended the first meeting of the Tulsa chapter of Freedom From Religion Foundation. The meeting was held in the home of Bill Dusenberry and Jackie Martin. If you are interested in knowing about that meeting, see http://www.ffrftulsa.blogspot.com/.

That evening was Movie Night at the Bradleys. We watch a double feature: Sick Around the World and Julia. The first feature was a documentary which compared America's health care to that of other nations around the world. America is not in the top ten for length of life, but we have a high rate of infant mortality. While our country has some of the best care available, it is not available if you have a high deductable or are poor. If you are poor, you would be better off to live in another country. Several other countries have a system of universal health care which is supported by taxes. For example, in England you can go to the doctor and even be admitted to the hospital and have no bill to pay. Forty-six million people in this country have no health insurance. Too many people are dying for lack of insurance. Call an insurance company and ask about medical coverage, and they will ask if you have any pre-existing conditions. If you do, good luck getting insurance from them.

The second feature we watched was Julia. It is set in the 1930s and is the story of two women and their experiences just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.

On Sunday, I went to Church of the Restoration. There were seven people there for the service. In a couple of weeks, Vanessa (church secretary) will be leading a discussion of the book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. I found out today that the book can be read on the Internet for free. I downloaded a copy to my Kindle and also sent an e-mail to the church to let Vanessa know the book is available on the Internet.

After church I returned home for a bite to eat and then left for our billboard on the west bank of the Arkansas River. The billboard reads: "Are You Good Without God? Millions Are." There were five of us there for an interview for Channel 8. Only two of us appeared on camera: Randy and Bill. The interview was aired on the 5 pm news and again on the 10 pm news. The interview can be viewed (for a while, at least) on http://www.ktul.com/. I am visible in the background for a fraction of a second.

After meeting with the reporter, I went to Braum's and had a chocolate shake. I then went to Joe Price's house for drumming. It was Joe's 62nd birthday, March 7. Joe was born just one day before I was. Joel, the Price's son-in-law, arrived, and we went over two drumming sets we have been practicing for several weeks.

Gail came over to practice piano duets this morning. We had another productive session as we worked out some tricky rhythms in a couple of pieces. We recorded Spanish Dance for YouTube, but I think we can do better than what we did today. We might try again next week, or we might move on to record another piece.

This evening we attended a symphony concert on the campus of Tulsa University. Gail and Glenn were there. We also saw a few other people we know. After the concert, we went to the Campus Grill and each had a pulled pork sandwich.