Dear Marion,

Thank you for your letter about the State Fair.  Please don't interpret
delay in answering to lack of interest and admiration for the
catholicity of your enthusiasms. I wish I could have gone with you!
But for better or for worse, I had other matters on my mind.

It's been longer than I can remember since I worked so assiduously for
such protracted stretches of time, starting as early as 7:30, and 
continuing until 11 p.m. or on two occasions, even midnight. Very slowly,
dragging a folding chair as I moved from receptacle to receptacle,
from wall switch to wall switch. The irony: essentially everything I
did was cosmesis, for apperances sake, to flatter the inspector.
I took time to write neither my extravagantly fantastic fiction,
nor letters, such as to you, making an exception only for my
friend Helmut in Hamburg.

The "rough wiring" installation is now ready for inspection.
"My" electrician, Rex Rowley, Klemens' patient, will go to Nantucket
with me for a preliminary review, but I'm unsure whether our
trip should occur before Margaret and I go to Konnarock, - if
we go; not sure at this juncture whether a trip to Virginia
is unwise and extravagant. The Nantucket legal issues preoccupy
me. I would much like to wait for the next Status Hearing, before
initiating "discovery" procedures, but know from experience that
the Court might then refer to my "failure to prosecute" as a
pretext for dismissing the case.

Meanwhile there's a crazy mix-up in my payment to the engineer,
Mr. Esposito. He's apparently in need of cash, sent me an 
invoice for $610 immediately after our trip to Nantucket,
which I had Bank of America pay immediately directly from
my account. Their $610 check has gone astray. It has not been
cashed. Mr. Esposito thinks someone else must have cashed it.
If he can't even distinguish between a check that has been
negotiated and one that is outstanding, how will he be able
to tell the difference between plumbing that's code compliant
and plumbing that isn't. Obviously when God created mankind 
intelligence was in short supply. We all do the best we can
with what's on hand, and so did He.

Our Nantucket house was spared by the recent hurricane which,
when it reached us, had degraded to a tropical storm,
and a not very violent one at that. The Nantucket surf,
however has been very hight, and has converted the beach on
which we picnicked a month ago into a sand dune three feet high.

Jochen