March 10, 1943

425 S. Cabrillo

San Pedro Calif.

March 10, 1943

Dear father, mother and the folks at home,

Why is it that lately I have been starting my letters home by commenting in one way or another on the weather that this wonderful state of California produces? Maybe it’s just an easy way to begin a letter. At any rate I guess that I’ll start this one in the same way.

It hasn’t rained lately but it certainly has looked like it on several occasions. One night it half sprinkled a little but nothing like it does when it really rains here. Today started out nice and clear at the beginning but this afternoon it started to blow from the west and when I was walking home from dinner a big cloud was rolling in over the big hill back of San Pedro.

I have often wondered how tall this hill is because the top of it is often hidden during cloudy weather. Perhaps it is just raining there that is all, because it surely does not seem very tall. Maybe it it rained again good and proper it would get raining off its mind till next winter which just now I wouldn’t mind in the least. I am not opposed to rain when it rains and then stops and the sun comes out etc but these week-long rains get me down. Of course it doesn’t rain continuously that long but it seems like it.

As I wrote last week I spent most of my time last week in learning to be an operator. This week I have been doing that work myself with nobody else around. It isn’t hard work at all if everything goes all right which it does most of the time. This week plant IX has not been running because a series of high space velocity studies were being made on Plant I and the only pump available for such large liquid output capacity was being used for plant IX so it was shut down and connected in the plant I system instead.

These plants have to be run in conjunction more or less because plant IX consumes hydrogen and plant I produces it. Therefore plant IX cannot be run if plant I is not being run since the H₂ storage capacity here is only sufficient to run Plants IV and X and those only for a limited time.

After this week I will be working half of the time as operator and half of the time as analyst. I think this will be a nice arrangement since I will have an opportunity to observe both what is occurring in the plant and in the laboratory. Unfortunately I will have to go back to work involving a shift change every week and for awhile I will have to work every Sunday for awhile altho only one Sunday in three on days. After six weeks more or less there will be a shift break and I think I can have Sundays off then if I want to.

I am thinking very much of moving. Perhaps you remember that I once wrote that I thought of moving into a house owned by some people called Johnson’s when they were visiting in Iowa. Well I didn’t then but now they are back and they have a room to rent and since I think it would be a nicer place to stay than where I am now staying I may decide to move there. If I do it probably will be on the 19^th of this month when my rent runs out here. I will know on Friday if I am going to do this or not and I will write and tell you of my decision as soon as it is made so that you will have my address.

If I do I think I will transfer my Look subscription so that it comes to Gowrie since I never get around to reading it and it just accumulates. You probably would get more enjoyment & use out of it than I do.

I hope that my birthday greetings or whatever you may call it got to Gowrie all right. I couldn’t get a mailing tube so I just wrapped it in a tight roll and hoped it would get there without getting bent. It really seemed pretty stiff to me so I think that it should come thru all right.

I am going to include some bonds in this letter. [written small in the margin] I will wait till after I have moved or decided against it.

The Luther League Fellowship program came off last Sunday pretty good. It seems to me that anything like this is worse in the anticipation than in the doing.

On the surface it seems that Vincent’s having failed to get in on the meteorology training was too bad but who knows but that it may be better in the long run? We are passing thru some very difficult times and oftentimes we may rebel inwardly at what is happening but then most of it is only incidental so perhaps we should accept things as they come with more equanimity (?) It seems very unfair that Vincent should have such a more difficult path to how than I. Why is it that those who in general deserve it least seem to get along so easily? I don’t know.

I will stop now.

A mushy kiss for you, mama

With love

CP