procedure write_out_notes (filename)
  file := open (filename, "rt") | stop ("no notes file yet")
  every write (!file)
end

procedure add_to_notes (filename, strs)
  file := open (filename, "at")  | # append to file if it exists
          open (filename, "cat") | # create the file if not there
          stop ("unable to open " || filename)
  writes (file, ctime(&now) || "\n\t")
  every writes (file, !strs || " ")
  write (file, "")
end

procedure main (args)
  notes_file := "notes.txt"
  if *args = 0
    then write_out_notes (notes_file)
    else add_to_notes (notes_file, args)
end