So I should be going to sleep, but I wanted to finish something, and I just found it; so I can.

But along the way, I found a booklet, The 26 Best Brain-Saving Puzzles, Mind-Benders, and Games, and I started going through it, until I hit one set of true-false trivia questions about dreams.

And then I remembered a dream I had last night, and I figured I should share it. I was outside Oma's house, looking on Carmela's, and it was full of plantings and mature trees, and I wanted to know why, and Carmela said she was going to sell the house.

And what was crazy about it is that she had brought in four full grown trees, all different, on the hill out front, between her and mom, and those four were on a line paralel with the border. And it was just a lot.

And I think I must have had other dreams as well, but I can't remember them now.

And my car is costing me again more than I paid for it for repairs, but I'm glad I had it done at the shop. I could have done myself, but then I couldn't.

So I shared this with your momma today, a bit of a breakthrough actually. I was at the shop yesterday, and was going to pick up the car. I'd paid for the oil change and service, and was quoted about six hundred, or six fifty, I don't know if he included the service in that, for fixing the problems found, which included a water pump replacement and rear brakes.

And I was confident I could do the rear brakes, and probably the water pump as well, but didn't ask him to itemize, and then I went out to the car, and started it, and realized the noise it made was the water pump noise, and I said to myself “Screw it. I am just not going to get this done.” I mean, I could have dedicated a Sunday afternoon to this, but really, did I want to?

And maybe it was Perry Marshall's influence, but I just went right back in and gave Alex—the proprietor—my keys and said something to the effect of “It's all yours,” but I'm pretty sure I didn't use exactly those words. And it was so easy.

And I came back, and I did 16 minutes of work that was worth $81.00. In other words, two hours of my work, three if we figure in taxes, was going to pay for this, and that was okay.

And then this morning I was talking to John, of Signature Property Maintenance, who takes care of the property, plowing as well, and he asked me about plowing going forward, and I realized I don't need to waste my time on snow here either, and he could have it, and I'd do the legal work. (I did spend a lot of time today chipping away the snow he salted, but nowhere near enough, this morning. This is what we were trying to avoid. But so be it.)

And then Alex called late in the day, and he said the car would not be ready. The brake pads sent were front and not rear pads, and he was doing the back brakes. And also, the radiator fluid was all gunked up. So I said “so it needs a radiator flush,” and he said yes, and I inquired as to price, and that's going to add another hundred and thirty or something like that.

And I realized the wisdom of my prior decision. You see, I don't have the facility to efficiently do a radiator flush, and certainly don't have where and how to recycle/dispose of radiator fluid, and probably would not have appreciated the severity of the problem, and likely would not have been able to do close to as good a job as he will. So in leaving my SAAB with him, I saved a world of frustration, and that's really really good.

And then I was following up on a bunch of cases, and realized I'd got a bad result on one of them, and was annoyed, but also got philosophical, or pragmatic, or both.

I realized I've got to specialize a bit. This woman would have been better served with someone who does landlord-tenant work day-in, day-out, and this is not I.

I'm not sure exactly how to make it good, but it is what it is, and it was a cheap enough lesson.

On another matter, I am a little miffed, but that's also a learing experience, I guess. Someone had asked me about a pre-nuptial, so I looked and I researched, and I quoted him a price, and sat down with the rabbi and him, and then he ignored a text I'd sent him a week ago, and then to my more recent text, he told me he'd worked it out himself, and was well served by our conversation. So I felt used, though I suppose he doesn't owe me, I feel like “yeah, a little bit he does.” He easily cost me five hours of my time. I was willing to charge him for only an hour and half, but in the end got nothing. This is no way to run a business, and next time someone asks, I'll just take the retainer first.

And I miss you, but don't miss Israel, and maybe it's just the house that I resent, that I let take too much of my time, or gave too much of my time, only to not get what we actually designed. But I suppose philosophically, we never do get quite what we design. We never can fully understand the full scope of what we put out there in the universe. But we can notice the signs that tell us we are headed down the wrong path, the reluctance to sign, the inability to get along with an architect, or builder, or to generate happiness consistently.

And I don't know if this SARS-CoV-2 situation will interfere with my attendance of Passover in Israel, but somehow I'm not too bothered by it. It would make me sad, but I think much less sad than your mother, but I think that's because I tend to do sad more than she does, so for me it's just degree, and for her it's a real hurt.

And I don't particularly like hurting people, and I'm not sure what I'd do with myself for a three day holiday. Maybe I'd just walk for hours and hours about Stamford. The idea of a Seder here seems a bit depressing, but maybe some other place is possible if Israel is not going to work. So maybe we should just make it work. I just checked flights and there are some good options.

Now I go write my letter.