April 10, 1942

April 10, 1942

Iowa City, Iowa

Dear father, mother, those three conservers of paper, lead and ink, and anyone else who may read this,

Today is Friday, April the 10th; one week later comes April the 17th; still one week later comes April the 24th; yet another week and comes May the first. On each day I will probably sit down at some time or other and write my weekly letters home. Then comes May 8th and unless something screwy occurs I should be coming home then. Of course, not for very long since school starts on Monday May the 10th, but nevertheless I will be coming home again. Oh happy day only four weeks hence! What are four weeks? They are only 28 days of 24 hours each but they still seem like an awful long time. Eight more incredibly dry periods of technical writing and of principles, twelve more times to come to hear the slightly mildewed Raiford expound the wonders of organic chemistry, three more weekends devoted to last minute report writing etc. etc. and then — whoops! — I can come home again. I’m acountin’ them thar days and they’re going slowly but they are going.

I really don’t have an awful lot to write about this week. My trip back from Dubuque was more or less uneventful and sort of dry-like. When I got back, it didn’t take very long to get back into the old daily routine again, grinding out problems etc. etc. I am planning to get some report-writing-up done over the weekend but I wonder if my resolutions will hold or not. My room-mate is trying to lure me to the baseball game tomorrow afternoon and I do not yet know if I am going to succumb or not. If it is a nice day perhaps I will go. Today the Iowa baseball team soundly trounced those mangy Minnesota baseball players 19–2. I listened to part of the game over the radio. If I go I probably will not get more than one report finished.

The summer schedule is partly officially settled now and I have been looking it over and I think that everything is going to work out fairly smoothly so that I shouldn’t have too hard of a time of it this summer. I have sort of been thinking about my draft number I believe that it fits in fairly well. At first I was sort of disappointed at not getting a higher number but on second thought there is an advantage in my case of having a somewhat lower number. I would like to get my questionnaire and be classified while I am still in school. That way I am fairly certain of getting a 6 months deferment since I am a prospective graduate of an engineering school. Then I would be working before I come up for reclassification. I only hope that my case does not come up in the one month interim between the time when school stops and my work begins. However I suppose, what happens will happen so that nothing can be done about it. However, much as I dislike the thought of eng’n’g, the army looks worse. Sometimes I am really scared when I think that I am supposed to be able to do when I start to work. Or that is, what I think I am supposed to be able to do. Most of the time I am appalled at my lack of knowledge. I don’t see how I am able to get along and do my work satisfactorily. But I suppose that will just have to take care of itself too.

The weather has been sort of queer in Iowa City lately. First it is nice and then it is raw & cloudy. I am hoping that it will soo turn nice and stay nice. If that happens tho, I suppose I will develop a tendency not to ming to my studying which wouldn’t be too good a thing.

Sunday night is the formal initiation banquet of some new members to Tau Beta Pi, to which I think I am going. Last Saturday was the all night session which I misses since I was in Dubuque. I sort of regret that it was not held at some other time so that I could have watched the initiates squirm thru everything I had to so. Altho it took a lot of time and cost $25, I do not regret in the least having joined Tau Beta Pi. Of course, we never get around to doing anything but it is fun anyway. Incidentally I don’t have any excuse to wear my key chain any more since we never use a key to our room any more. Therefore I cannot exhibit my honorary (?) decorations.

I seem to have run our of information so I will stop.

With love

C.P.

P.S. I have bought myself a lamp for my table for $1.98. It is a very nice lamp I think. I have no place to put my radio so it is sitting under the bed. At the end of the semester when my room-mate graduates, and if I don’t get another, I will have plenty of room to put it some place.