Dear Margrit,
.PP
.fi
.na
This is a pre Christmas letter of sorts.
I am sorry that our recent telephone conversations
have been somewhat perfunctory.
For my part, I am relieved that you seem less angry
at me than you have been, or not angry at all;
and wisely or otherwise,
I have found no reason to worry about your welfare.
Also I have been working very hard, which is not unusual,
but I have felt under more pressure to be productive than usual,
and I have consistently failed to meet the deadlines that I set myself.
I continue to work on my 1990 novel.
Parts of it seem to me to be very good,
but there is still much that needs to be rewritten,
and to do it well, I need a contemplative leisure,
which eludes me just now.
The 1991 novel which I dictated in Canada this summer,
I have not even begun to transscribe,
and I do not see how I can possibly get ready
for the new literary endeavors which should
be part of our trip to Germany
in May, if we should decide to go.
.PP
About three months ago, Klemens and I decided that
because of the declining interest rates and the consequent
shrinking of unearned income from the family assets,
we should spend more time and effort in managing the
investments. In consequence of this decision,
I signed up (for $25.00 per month) with the Dow Jones
News Retrieval which is a computer service that furnishes
securities data over the telephone. Every evening now
beginning at 9 o'clock,
I collect the equivalent of 350 single spaced pages of 
stock market data in one of my computers.
The transmission takes three hours,
and the computer requires another 50 minutes to analyze the
data, so that I seldom get to bed before one o'clock.
So far I have worked only with the computer modeling.
I don't know, how soon I will be ready to make investments
of real money. Perhaps I need not even say that I would
under no circumstances invest any of
.ul
your
money in this manner. If it turns out to be profitable,
which may or may not be the case,
we will give you a substantial portion of the profits
without having exposed your capital to any of the attendant risks.
.PP
In addition, the Eye and Ear Infirmary reappointment process
is again in full swing. Foolishly or otherwise, I expect
that they have learned a lesson and will give me less trouble
this year than last. But that remains to be seen. In any event,
I believe I have very little to lose from fighting with them
and it keeps ones spirit youthful.
.PP
I thought I should write to you about the additions
that I made to the security system in Konnarock.
I believe that I mentioned on the telephone, that I
installed new infrared sensors on the porch and in the kitchen.
The sensor on the porch should cause no inconvenience,
but the sensor in the kitchen, which is located over
one of the windows facing west,
requires that you deactivate the system
by pushing the button as soon as you enter
and just before you leave. The kitchen, in other words,
is no longer "safe", and if the infra-red sensor catches you
in front of the sink or in front of the refrigerator,
it will trigger the alarm.
I told you also that I placed thin strips of conductive
aluminum tape across all the basement windows, and
across the living room picture window. The arrangement
in the basement will not trouble you,
but if the interference with the view from the living room
bothers you, it is easy enough to remove the tape.
If you do so, you will inactivate the burglar alarm,
but I have wired the system so that it can easily
be patched, and I can tell you how, over the telephone.
.PP
Finally there has been on my conscience.
the matter of your car.
Although I knew it to be contrary to your wishes,
I moved the car back outside, and I did so for two reasons.
My main reason was the belief,
shared by Jeane and Herman, that the presence of the
car outside, would suggest to a potential burglar
that the house was occupied. My second reason
was the concern that the car might begin leaking
gasoline into the garage with possibly distastrous results.
I realize that this fear may be exaggerated,
but the fact is, that before I disposed of it,
Papa's Dodge leaked several gallons onto the driveway,
which might have caused serious problems if they had splilled
inside the garage.
Since the battery in your car had drained,
I decided to recharge it, using a power supply
that I happened to have on hand.
Having done so, I realized that it was straightforward
to leave the battery in the garage, attached to the charger,
and through a shallow trench in the driveway,
run a wire to
the battery terminals under the back seat. By turning
on the flashers in the car
and installing a relay inside the garage,
I devised a system which causes the flashers on your car
to start flashing every time someone walks up
to the kitchen door at the front of the house.
Ich glaube, dass weder irgendeiner
meiner einstigen Schulkameraden, noch deren So#hne
noch deren So#hnesso#hne ein solches Wunder wird
kapieren ko#nnen.
.PP
Should you want to start the car, all that is necessary
is to disocnnect the wires from the battery,
place the battery under the back seat,
and connect the battery cables.
Be sure that the proper side of the battery,
I believe the minus ( - ) side,
is connected to the frame.
So far as your using the car is concerned,
as you know, I do not believe it is safe to drive.
I do not believe it will pass inspection,
and I do not see how it can legally be driven to Windsor
even if it were mechanically possible to do so.
What I would really like,
is that you give me you car for Christmas,
so that I do not have to feel guilty
about disposing of it in Konnarock as seems best to me.
.PP
I very much hope these matters have not rekindled your anger
or in any event that you will not be angry with me
when we are together in Konnarock after Christmas.
But if you are angry,
and if you do not want me there at all,
please let me know,
and my feelings will not be disproportionately hurt.
For the rest I think we should both accept the circumstance
that neither of us will change very much, if at all.
Es bleibt ein jeder wer er ist.
.PP
I think about you a great deal, and about Mutti and Papa.
Please stay well and happy.