Dear Cyndy,

One of the most satisfactory consequences of our correspondence
is the manner in which it widens my cultural horizon. The "Dear
John" letter to which you allude is a case in point. I had never
heard of such correspondence. The Internet, of course, nowadays
has a ready answer for almost every question, and after letting 
myself be enlightened, I note that I have never ventured to
a position where I might be the recipient - or, for that matter,
the author - of such a letter. Arguably, I have failed to discover
what life is all about. Soap opera existence has eluded me.

If I find myself in a predicament at all, - and I'm not sure I do, -
it's because I may be over-extended. My appetite for work exceeds
certainly my physical strength and possibly my intellectual
capacity as well. I don't know where or how to put limits on my
undertakings.  Sooner or later I will fail, and my projects will
come to their natural end. Meanwhile I try hard to maintain as
ordered a technical, economic and legal environment as I am able,
so as to leave my survivors in the best possible position to cope
with the complexities that my activities continue to generate.

The past few days have been mild and sunny. I have taken advantage
of the good weather to start painting the house, applying yet another
layer to the numerous coats that have been brushed onto the ship-lap
siding over the 95 years of its existence. I keep reminding myself
that next month I will be 80. The house and I: reciprocal examples
of the decomposition of old age. Today, although the weather was
again warm and sunny, I found no time for painting. The entire day
was taken up by tax matters. First for the IRS which requires an
accounting of my retirement plan on something they call Form 5500-EZ,
a form that the IRS unable to provide ands which has been on back-order
for months. Meanwhile, failure to file on time is punished with fines
up to $15000.  Speaking of bureaucratic incompetence and tyranny,  -
I finally extracted telephone instructions to file 2009 data on a
2008 Form of which, fortunately I had kept a blank duplicate.
Quite possibly they will now try to fine me for following their
instructions and using the outdated form.

The other entertainment came from the Virginia tax authorities,
who refused to acknowledge that in support of the amended income tax
retgurns, I had sent them documentation for the taxes my sister paid
to Canada in 2002, 2003 and 2005. I mailed them the duplicates for
which they asked.  I shall argue on appeal, if necessary, that their
demand for documentation constitutes a waiver of any statute of
limitations which they might otherwise have invoked. That's something
they won't have thought of.

Margaret and I plan tentatively to leave for Konnarock on Monday
morning, just 36 hours from now. Whether we will be able to get
ready remains to be seen. The Konnarock computer is functioning
flawlessly, sending surveillance images day after day. E-mail 
should be no problem. Stay well, and give my best to Ned.

Jochen