Dear Nikola,

Thank you for including me as one of the recipients of your letter.  You ask me in your letter: "How best to learn from this experience?" Forgive me, if I repeat what I said in one of our recent conversations: When you speak to a stranger, be it a police officer or a "health care provider", try to have in the forefront of your mind, what effect your words will have on the person to whom you address them. Calling 911 for information about where to find public toilet facilities is unacceptable in a society which is fundamentally insane, and whose insanity is agonizingly apparent, and not only from the fact that it does not provide such facilities.  You and I are able to survive in this society only by acting as if it were sane. No matter how the judge rules, you must address him as "Your Honor." 

So much for theory. As a practical matter, because of my awkwardness in walking, it is often precarious to get to the toilet on time. I deal with the problem by having available in my car, an empty 32 oz. plastic (yogurt) container, which I use shielded from view, and then empty, when unobserved, into the nearest gutter.

Practical also is the threshold issue, whether our families consider the many hours which we are accustomed to converse, to be detrimental or beneficial to your situation. As I have emphasized to you: I very much value my solitude.  However, if you wished, and with the endorsement of both our families, I would order from amazon.com, sheets and blankets and turn up the thermostat, so that you could spend an occasional night in one of the six vacant bedrooms.

Please send me an e-mail to let me know what's going on.

EJM