Dear Cyndy, The more evanescent the memory, the faster the passage of time, or so it seems to me. Last Friday, April 24, I finally filed with the Suffolk Superior Court what is called the Rule 9a package, a compendium of my Motion. Memorandum and Exhibits for Judgment on the Pleadings, Kimberly's Opposition and Memorandum, my Motion to Strike, her Opposition to that motion, and an affidavit that I had received no Opposition or other communication from the AG. I parked the car on Concord Avenue across from the Belmont Post Office and took the bus and the subway into the city. Before entering the court house, I removed my belt, because I suspected it was its heavy metal buckle which invariably set off the concealed weapons search alarm. In this at least I was correct. On the 12th floor, I tried to explain the significance of my documents to the secretary in the Clerk's Office, but she was unimpressed. She perused them in an off-hand manner, explaining that she didn't know much about procedure, stamped a photocopy of the front page in lieu of a receipt, and when I left I saw the documents I had guarded so diligently strewn on the counter where a passer-by might easily walk off with them. I then took subway and bus back to the post office, where I mailed certified letters which advised both Kimberly and the AG that the documents had been filed. My car was parked across the street, and I drove home. When I Internet checked the docket sheet later that evening, my filings had not yet been listed. I'll look again on Monday. On Saturday, Margaret and I had a visit from her sister Janet who came together with Janet's son Peter. Peter is a very charming pediatric neurologist, the most successful of Janet's three children, who has found his niche at the University of Vermont in Burlington. He came to Somerville to consult a computer engineer about the possibility of modifying one or more computer games to stimulate deep breathing by children with cystic fibrosis. It's obviously next to impossible to train a child to do breathing exercises, and Peter's project entails fitting the child with a sweater that incorporates motion sensors with which chest expansion, and hence the depth of breathing can be measured. The computer program will then be designed to analyse the chest movements and to reward the child with a much desired outcome when his/her breathing is of the desired amplitude. Later Saturday (yesterday) afternoon, I drove Margaret into Cambridge to a memorial service for Mrs. Lydia Coffin Prescott Thayer. Mrs. Thayer's daughter Pixie, had been a student of Margaret's at the Buckingham School in 1953, and Mrs Thayer herself had been my patient since before I started keeping computerized medical records in 1982. After cataract surgery (by others), Mrs. Thayer's glaucoma became worse to the point of being almost unmanagable. But Mrs. Thayer was a very resilient lady, and she had an equally resilient optic nerve that survived poorly controlled pressures for many years. When she died four months before her hundredth birthday, she was still able to read the Globe, albeit with a magnifying glass. Since I had invested so much of myself in Mrs. Thayer's life, I didn't feel the need to demonstrate my sympathy. I dropped Margaret off at the church door, and went home. When I drove into Cambridge a second time, to retrieve Margaret, I was involved in a very minor accident which is described in the attached letter to the insurance company. They probably won't like the letter and will ask me to complete a form. Maybe I will and maybe I won't. The other Saturday event was a certified letter from Kimberly, who seems to be in a panic. She complained about my not yet having filed her Oppositions, seemingly oblivious of the provision of Rule 9A which require me to wait for 10 days plus 3 business days for a reply from the AG to my motion to strike. Since I hand-served that motion at the AG's mail room on April 14, my filing on the 24th was five days premature. But I don't think anyone will notice; and it seems most improbable that on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, I'll receive an Opposition from the AG. If I do, I'll know how to deal with it; if I don't, the matter becomes moot. Today, Sunday, was the first really warm day, with temperatures going up to eighty. When I turned on the central air-conditioning that I installed to cool the upper floors of the addition, the air circulated, but was warm. It turned out that the compressor outside the house was not functioning, because its fan impinged on the housing which I found to be dented. Whether a heavy chunk of ice fell from the roof, or whether a child took a notion to dance on the flimsy enclosure - I don't know. I managed to straighten the sheet metal somewhat and to get the compressor to function, at least temporarily. Tomorrow, I'll get some grinding wheels to attach to the electric drill, with which I hope to make a permanent repair. Here's my letter to the insurance company: a memento of an uninspired and uninspiring weekend, - but it could have been worse: ========================================================== April 25, 2009 re: AD1-218-654973-118 Liberty Mutual Group 173 Bedford Street Lexington MA 02420 It is my understanding that I am obligated to report to you an incident, which I consider minor, that occurred at about 6:00 p.m. on Saturday April 25, 2009. The sun was shining and the road was dry. Traffic was moderate. I was driving my 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan, Mass. Registration 37WK50, south east on Garden Street in Cambridge MA on my way to the First Church in Cambridge, Unitarian Universalist, at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Church Street. I had stopped at a traffic light in the center lane of three lanes at the corner of Garden and Mason Streets in Cambridge. Since the cars ahead of me had gone through the yellow light as it changed to red, I was first in line. When the light changed to green I drove at between 5 and 10 m.p.h. through the Garden Street-Mason Street intersection, where as the attached satellite image shows, there are no lane markings in the intersection, and Garden Street veers about 10 degrees in an easterly direction. As I was about half way through the intersection, my automobile was lightly side- swiped on the left side by a car passing me, the driver of the other vehicle then veered to the right directly infront of my vehicle. We exchanged papers at the near-by bus stop. The vehicle which had side-swiped me had Massachusetts License Plates, 2692XN. I believe it was a mid-size import; I don't know what make or year. The other driver identified herself as Ms. Inez M. Salesman, 251 Garden Street, Apt 14, Cambridge MA 02138. Her Massachusetts Drivers License Number is 028-327043. Her car is insured by Libery Mutual. On my cursory examination of her car I saw no deformation but only apparently superficial scratches of the right rear fender. I did not inspect the door panels or the front fender. Examination of my car showed heavy scratches and light deformation of the left rear fender, which I believe to have been pre-existing. Damage from the present incident includes a scratch across both left door panels 8 feet long, extending onto the front fender, whose posterior edge was minimally indented, so as to produce a scraping noise when the left front door was opened or closed. When I returned home, I wedged a wooden cooking spoon into the cleft between the left front door and the left front fender. When I then shut the left front door with the cooking spoon in place, the deformed edge of the front fender was straightened, and the left front door now seems to open and close normally. Although I believe Mrs. Salesman might be held responsible, I make no claims and I have no intention of obtaining an estimate for professional repair of the minor damage to my car. Mrs. Salesman's contention that the "accident" was not her "fault" because, as she said "I was in my lane," is not persuasive, because a) lanes are not marked in the intersection, b) passing in an intersection in which lanes are not marked is naughty if not indeed reckless, c) Mrs. Salesman's car struck my car, as she tried to pass me, not vice versa. I'm glad the accident wasn't more serious, and I wish Mrs. Salesman well: but I will object very strenuously to any settlement which would contribute to an increase in my insurance rates, either now or in the future. Please advise me in writing a) of any claims made against me, and b) of any settlement of such claims that you might make. ====================================================== Stay well and stay out of trouble, and give my best to Ned. Jochen