Berlin, 21.03.01 Not an update, really, just a recycled email: Well that was a busy morning. Annette left for the airport - the dearth of panicky phone calls suggests that she boarded her plane successfully - and Oma took Maddy off to the doctor for her rabies and distemper shots and I rushed around heaping piles of junk on the bed so that the Putzfrau could clean our floors during her fortnightly visit. This is going to be weird, five days without the milk truck. I think we'll survive, but I'm not looking forward to the formula at four in the morning thing. No I'm not. But I suppose it's something I should experience at least once. I suspect that Madeleine will notice her mother's absence this time. So Annette finished preparing her talks and set off for Toronto with a bulging briefcase, full of syllabi and articles and various other bundles of paper. She wasn't too nervous. Unlike all previous interviews, when I've been cocky and confident on her behalf, I'm not interested in thinking about this one. I'd rather pretend it's not happening. I sense that Annette feels the same way - she's just going to show up, do her best, and get on with it. No expectations, no hopes, just another interview. I think the fact that she's now able to contemplate ending her academic career has helped her to relax. Maybe the fact that I don't have a good feeling about this one - unlike all previous interviews - means that the outcome will be different. It could be a good sign. So how about that stock market? Selling a bunch of XXX at $70 was a smart move, but buying it back at $35 sure isn't looking too clever just now. Our holdings aren't worth a bean anymore. The long term prospect doesn't appear too bright either, it will probably slide below $10. It's already lower than the IPO value, 18 months ago. I think it will be a very long time before it returns as high as $30, years maybe. If this goes on much longer it's definitely not just a cyclical wobble in the tech market. Yet we're not the least bit upset. We didn't lose anything - we're still making a pretty good profit on shares we bought for a dime! We sold enough to pay off all the student loans and top up our RRSPs and buy a few bikes, that's nothing to complain about. I'm actually a bit relieved, as the near-complete disappearance of our "nest-egg" means we're no longer in a position to contemplate buying real estate, which is something I'm strangely averse to. Now we don't have any excuses not to rent for at least another five or ten years. This pleases me greatly. Did I mention that Vita's last visit to the vet was a roaring success? She's gained back a bit of the weight she lost, and the vet heard no evidence of fluid in her lungs so it's safe to keep her off the heart medication permanently. She's eating with gusto and producing würstchen at the normal rate. The vet was very impressed with her good manners on the table, called her a "liebe Dame" even. Earlier that morning another cat had taken off like a rocket and tried to remove his face when he came at it with a needle. He showed me a kitty-sized muzzle that he uses for his extra-violent patients. Worse than pit bulls. So the first day of spring looks better out the window - brilliant blue skies - but was bloody cold this morning, down under freezing at night. I can live with crisp clear cold, but yesterday was awful, a damp chill with half an inch of slowly melting snow on the ground, temperatures just above freezing, wind howling. I nearly froze riding into work. Today was much better. If it stays dry I will probably try to skate tonight, a quick workout on the track, after I've come home to relieve Oma for a while (but I also need to shop for groceries… so maybe not tonight). Most of my team-mates are skating their legs off under the hot Sardinian sun this week. I am enormously jealous, but then I'll get my turn in early April if I ever manage to organize this vacation . Mom - sorry I haven't replied to your emails directly, I've been receiving them at home, when I have no time to write. So I will try to answer now. Yes, Maddy looks quite a bit older in the last pictures. It's a bit illusory - we pick the best pictures, after all. She's still not crawling or sitting up by herself, but those days are fast approaching, I suspect. Meanwhile she grows and develops at a furious rate. I suspect you'll be quite surprised when you see her next (in about six weeks, right?).