Dads stories

Sent: Sunday, 25 June 2000 10:29 PM
Dear Harald,

I posted the CD’s yesterday morning (Saturday). They should arrive around Friday. I also fixed my sound problem. If you think you are the only camel under the sun regards PC’s, then  look no further than me! After I took everything apart three times and reinstalled everything, and after I had decided to buy a new sound card (was nothing else left that I could check), I discovered that in the speaker, which because of lack of room is a bit hidden, was an extension cord which of course turned the speaker off. I had plugged it in myself, because it is less hassle to switch between computer and radio, I don’t need to get up. Hedwig and I are in agreement not to inflict the pain of our individual sources of noise onto each other, be it radio or TV, and so we wear our own headphones, when we wanted to unwind with something pleasant. We are both sensitive, she doesn’t want to listen to my squeaking and the constant chatter which she has on day and night drives me nuts. For the TV we have a cordless headphone.

I had intended to answer your letters. That’s why I got up at 3.30am. At 5am is breakfast, when my dearly beloved is asleep. For if she should catch me at it then she nags: „is that all, that little bowl full?“. I usually keep out of the way of such nagging.

Dear Harald, many thanks for the first page of your letter where you write about your friend. I was of course interested in what actually happened there. Usually these sort of operations are successful. However 4 bypasses are of course a lot. And then if the immune system is not working as well as it should, it is easy for unpredictable complications to set in. But all that is irrelevant. No matter what, you have lost your friend.

What R said about missing the seasons, is very accurate. In Germany one „feels“ each month, each month is different, and especially the seasons. Here one doesn’t notice it at all. Of course, sometimes it is cold, sometimes it rains and sometimes it is hot. But Spring or Autumn? Its all the same. And we really miss that. And we never forget it. I don’t really suffer from homesickness, but I do experience it as a loss. But on the other hand, there are emotions here too. This was very well represented on the CD: „Stories from the Australian Landscape“. Australia is mysterious and dreamlike. Unfortunately the sound on the CD’s does wreck this a bit. I will write more about this later.

The arrival of the Police was actually quite funny, in the end. There was a sequel. After the police had left, Peter came into the room and asked if it were possible that I had had one of my famous nightmares. Dear God...of course, shortly before they came, I slept. Peter wasn’t home at the time and Hedwig had the washing mashine on. I probably have not written about this as yet but since my heart attack in 1996, I sometimes get the most gruesome nightmares, and then I scream my head off and call out for help. Because of this I always leave my bedroom door open, so that Hedwig can hear this. She will then immediately come and wake me up. Often enough I hear the screams myself and wake up. But not always. That morning I had a few episodes of nausea, whilst in the Northland Shopping Centre. Hedwig and I twice had to sit down on a bench. That usually helps and things improve. The air in that large shop is very bad when it is crowded. That happened to me the first time in the Kaufhof in Duesseldorf. I am very sensitive in these situations (and not only with this).

So it was confirmed, I must have had a nightmare. And I always have my window open. Hedwig had been asking me for quite a while already to let the neighbour know. She said that if she heard the neighbour screaming for help like that, she probably would also call the police. So it wasn’t me that was trying to finish her off, it was she trying to finish me off! What a relief! She is a bit worried about her good reputation!

The following morning I went to the neighbour and explain everything. However he had no idea and had never heard me!

So I reckon the cops had the wrong address. Oh well, let’s leave it. In any case they were very friendly.

I had the same honor many years ago. Two big policemen visited our house. They showed me a piece of paper and asked me, if that was my parking ticket. It was true that I had parked in the wrong place (business stress). But I said that I had already paid the fine. Then they asked me to read the piece of paper. Some joker had taken it off my windshield and written onto it :“Dear Magistrate! You can get f....., your honour!“ and sent it to the Police. I laughed of course. Then one of them said „the Magistrate didn’t think it funny!“.

....

Now I will enjoy my breakfast and go back to bed. 5.30am, not bad.

Greetings. Peter.