My Dear Brother Joseph,

After receipt of both your letters, the crew made it a point 
to go out and retrieve the NH-54 gardening robot.

After it balked the last time, i remembered that i just put 
the wacko NH-54 in a fenceline gardenshed, so it didn't get 
a chance to be taken apart i guess.

After no little effort at refurbishing and trying the get 
the thing to start up, it finally perked up and was 
responsive to input.

At first, everything seemed okay with no snotty back 
chatter.

So we tried it out on a back potato field.

It finished that task that day with no burps.

i stored it in the same lineshed for the night.

The next day we put it to plowing next year's onion field 
(we are on water rationing too).

Well, that started things up real good!

About a quarter of the way through we finally looked up the 
acreage and inputed by download, the rest of the data to the 
'bot.

About 10 seconds later, the thing just stopped and my 
communicator rang again.

This time i was ready with the record mode button.

I haven't used all these new fancy phone features so it took 
me a while to figure out how to do it as i couldn't find the 
six documentation crystals that came with the phone anymore.  

Anyhow this is what we got.

phone record log text following:

Mary had a little lamb
                            and
whose fleece was
as white as snow
                            and
whose name was John
                            and
everywhere that Mary went
that lamb was sure to go.

What foul odors come forth from these?

What wretched cities, these

sailing only by the night's light

sailing only by the light of darkness.

Where sail you now
oh foolish ship
by the light
of the evenings
darkness?

Blind mice
Have you learned nothing at all?

Gone with the wind
the topsoil is
waterless sand
grows nothing

trudge, trudge, trudge
the people can hardly budge
they stagger and swagger
beneath the dagger
and go home
to eat
chocolate fudge.



Well, anyhow Joseph, you can see the problems I am having 
with the 'bot.  It sure sounds like it has a bad chip or two 
on its shoulder, (if you will pardon the unintentional pun.)  

I went to the factory and complained to the service desk and 
while i was there i discovered about four other people that 
had had the same sort of problems with the NH-54, although 
they were in there for other issues at the time.  

Apparently, the factory is sort of a problem generating 
place.  I don't know if they have any happy customers for 
any of their products.

Anyhow, they informed me that the warranty period had long 
ago expired (and it had) and quoted me a repair price, but 
having your communication in hand i showed them the price 
and delivery and problems you had.  my price was even a lot
higher than the one they quoted you.  I guess because of the 
rampant stagflation nowadays.

They offered to give me a 5% discount on any new model that 
i might want instead.  (aren't they generous, though?)  So i 
just called it quits and returned to the farm.

I subsequently decommissioned the 'bot and left it in the 
shed.  There the matter and the 'bot stands still yet today.

The service desk seemed to disagree with your physicists 
hypothesis but i didn't mention or show him your source or 
mention any 'physicist'.

i guess things haven't improved all that much in the new 
era.  I remember grandpa telling about his grandpa 
complaining about the deterioration of manufacturing ethics 
after the treaties just before the global warming era

So that is where it is at so far.  More later if the 'bot 
escapes on his own and starts up a restaurant.  :-)

Hang in there, do the best you can and ignore the 
peccadilloes of 'bot performance.

my best to you and yours.

Theophilus.

p.s.  Just pitch the thing and buy something fresh.