We had a delightful anniversary. We went into DC to enjoy an Van Gogh immersive experience. They had reproductions of many of his paintings along side interpretations of the art and important events in his life. Then we went into a huge room where themes based on some of his work were projected on all four walls and the floor. One of the themes was a river. The projected the flowing water on the floor. It was disorienting and hard to walk, but also quite interesting. We stopped at a deli for lunch afterwards. Thanks for the tip, Lynne.

One of our residents organizes a “Lunch and Learn”. A resident discusses their profession, personal history, or other aspect of their life. This month we had Bob. Every three years, our houses are appraised. The appraisal and the tax rate determines our property taxes. If we disagree with the appraisal, we can ask for a review. If we don’t like the results of the review, we can appeal to the county appeal court. Bob is one of three judges on the Howard County real property appeal court. He is an entertaining speaker and, of course, highly knowledgeable about property assessments. He told us exactly how to appeal our appraisal, some likely arguments we could use to get a lower evaluation, what documentation we would need, and how to get that documentation. Unfortunately, he gave this talk a few months after our appraisal. We will have a chance to appeal our next appraisal, which will be in three years.

Mom got a quite unusual letter from Chase Bank. They said there had been no activity in one of her accounts for a long time. If she doesn’t take action by April 4, they will turn the money over to the state of Maryland under the abandoned account law. I found this quite surprising because the account is a CD. One does not expect transactions on a CD account. Mom signed and mailed the letter stating this was her account. A week later, I called the bank. They said they couldn’t see whether the letter had been received or whether it was considered a correct response. Both Mom and I have to visit a bank branch. (So much for the Power of Attorney.) When we arrived, the person we had an appointment with wasn’t there. The replacement didn’t know that one can’t add a deposit to a CD. After two hours, we had done nothing and learned nothing. Except I forgot to feed the meter, and got away with it. Actually, my beautiful wife explained that if I pop the handicap tag, I don’t have to pay for parking — it’s the Maryland law!

We had a wonderful dinner with at the Sochurek’s Sunday afternoon. Life can be very good.

I hope everybody is doing well.