I have just come out of King Edward Memorial Hospital from having surgery on my left side.

The right was done some five months ago, same surgeon, same ward, different nurses. The difference between then and now is like night and day; let me explain.

Five months ago, things were very strict on the ward; no fooling around, no getting up at night and on and on. Today things are very much more relaxed.

One amusing event comes to mind. Because of renovations, my roommate and I spent a night and a day along with two other semi-privates in one of the public wards.

I was sitting up reading about 10 p.m. when one of my new roommates got out of bed, put on his civvies and headed for the door. "What's up doc?'' "I am going out.'' "What's out?'' "I'm going to the Docksider for a drink'' and he left.

The next morning he came sliding in about 6 a.m. showing his "blows'', so to speak. Hops into bed, falling immediately asleep for the rest of the day.

Later in the afternoon his surgeon came by, examined him and certified him fit for release. He was certifiable all right, wrong hospital.

Things are changing down on Point Finger Road.

DOUGLAS C. ROBERTS Sandys Parish For the record August 18, 2000 Dear Sir, I have recently received a copy of the article that you published on 22 June concerning the court action in which I was involved.

I would like, for the record, to correct some of the errors that were made. I fear that the impression given differs from the truth.

The plaintiffs in the case, Frascati Hotel Corporation, own Cambridge Beaches.

My husband was president and CEO of both Frascati and Cambridge Beaches since about the time that my father-in-law, Sir Howard Trott, bought Cambridge Beaches.

My husband, Thaddeus Trott, devoted fifty years to the property. He even moved there in 1981 in order to keep a close watch on the property and to develop it into a little Bermuda paradise.

At some point during 1994 and 1995 we began thinking about an addition to the house. The cottage next door had been used as living quarters for my husband's ex-housekeeper.

After the departure of the housekeeper, the cottage was used, at the suggestion of the hotel manager, as a hairdressing salon. When the hairdresser opened her own salon the cottage was left deserted and finally was turned into a sewing room and storage room for the housekeeping department.

It was at the time that he decided to incorporate the adjoining cottage to give us greater living space. I needed bedrooms in which my four children, their wives and/or husbands and my grandchildren could stay without imposing on the hotel.

I also wanted a room in which I could work at my hobbies; have as an office for myself -- a "room of my own''. Thaddeus had also decided at the age of 73, that even though he was virtually retired, he wanted the privacy of an office for himself and one for his secretary at home.

It was decided by my husband that he would have the next-door cottage remade into an addition to our cottage. He obtained a permit to incorporate the two cottages. The construction was commenced in June 1997, about two weeks before we left for our annual trip to Banff, Canada.

The lease, which my husband had ordered drawn up in 1995 and for which the duration was to be at least 21 years, had been delayed by the lawyers and the manager of the hotel.

Since my husband did not like to attend at lawyer's offices, he had ordered his hotel manager to take care of the matter. My husband was not very strong in 1995 since he had a kidney removed at the close of 1994.

Although my husband constantly spoke, and there are written notes to verify it, about the delay in drawing up a simple lease, it was not yet consigned to paper at the time of his death.

True, there were various drafts, but the final draft encompassing all that my husband wanted it to include and which needed my husband's final approval and signature was not completed before my husband entered the hospital on 22 September, 1997. I find it most strange that the drawing up of a lease should take more than two years.

My husband spoke about the lease to his manager less than a week before he entered the hospital. He had been informed by his manager, purportedly on the advice of counsel, that no lease could be made for more than five years with a non-Bermudian.

My husband knew that I would have status in September 2000. He did not intend to die before then and thus three years before my becoming a Bermudian, he agreed to a five-year lease, which the lawyers said was safe, just to get something down of paper with his signature. He could always change it later.

However, he was also under the impression that, as with his own lease, it would be renewable. He stated that to friends.

I was claimed in Court by the manager of the hotel that as my husband lay virtually on his deathbed, in a drugged state, he declined to discuss the lease.

There was only one person to testify and that was the manager. There were no witnesses to the statements, which the manager swore my husband had made.

I would like to make clear for the record that I do not own a home in Baltimore. My husband, before we were married, rented a small apartment in Baltimore.

Johns Hopkins Hospital is located primarily in Baltimore. It is and has been for at least one hundred years one of the finest places in which to obtain medical care. During the 1990s we purchased a small condo in the building where before we had rented.

I would like to point out that I do not own an apartment at the St. James Court. My husband left me the income from the apartment, if it is rented. The apartment is not held in trust for me and belongs to that part of my husband's estate which was left to his children.

There is one other matter that I would like to address. Your article stated that my husband died from cancer in 1997.

No cancer was found in my husband's body nor was any indisputable proof discovered. I have been in a two-and-a-half-year discussion with the Chief of Staff of the hospital to obtain slides, containing my husband's blood, in order to have a forensic pathologist, specialising in the liver cancer, at the United States Armed Forces Hospital in Washington, D.C. analyse them.

This Chief of Staff has not only refused me access to the slides and all other documentation concerning my husband, but has also told me that I am not my husband's next of kin and that I'd better get used to the fact that my husband died from liver cancer.

I have been refused the right, to which I am legally entitled as next of kin and a widow, to know the cause of my husband's death.

These have been for me the worst of times and I have suffered enormously as a result of the actions taken against me.

ROBERTA TROTT Banff, Canada TCD's not so `e-asy' August 17, 2000 Dear Sir, I am writing this letter in response to your story of August 16 on the problems facing Bermuda's newest e-commerce venture, Bermudagrocer.com.

What should have been a positive and glowing profile of this much-needed service was instead a depressing chronicle of Bermuda bureaucracy gone mad.

Here we have a Bermudian entrepreneur offering a unique service geared to just about everyone on the Island, but especially to the elderly, disabled, homebound, and just about anyone who does not drive, or does not live within walking distance of a supermarket.

By filling up your shopping cart on the Bermudagrocer.com website you can have your groceries delivered right to your door at a time that is convenient for you.

Now, the bureaucrats at the Transport Control Department have decided that this e-venture is not worthy of having more than one van on the roads, as they purportedly are concerned by the traffic caused by commercial vehicles, ignoring the fact that it most difficult for the company to offer an Island-wide six-day-a-week grocery delivery service with only one van! Perhaps TCD should take the following under advisement: 1. Every delivery made by Bermudagrocer.com means one less vehicle on the road travelling to and from a grocery store; 2. Every van that is owned by Bermudagrocer.com is driven by a Bermudian delivery person; 3. This is a local company employing local staff. Every order that is placed ensures continued employment for the Bermudians who work in the firm's warehouse and offices; 4. Every order that is delivered to a customer's satisfaction means repeat orders and positive word-of-mouth advertising for the firm -- which, in turn, means expansion and increased employment opportunities for Bermudians.

Dr. Ewart Brown, the Minister of Transportation, and Renee Webb, the Minister of Telecommunications, should take a long, hard look at the action of the TCD in this matter.

Government should not just offer local businesses moral support -- but should ensure that Government regulation is tailored to encourage and help local businesses to thrive.

Government should not just tout Bermuda as a leader in e-commerce in the press -- Government should work to make e-ventures viable -- rather than work against them. In closing, let me just say good luck to Bermudagrocer.com -- my experience with your service was nothing but positive and I remain: A SATISFIED E-CUSTOMER Hamilton Parish