Trying to Buy Cheese Spread

5 MORE DAYS

 

Sat. Nov. 27, 1943

4:20 p.m.

 

Dear folks,

Another weekend. This is the last one this term here. One week from now I should be in Chicago. Time seems to be dragging pretty much now. After I finished writing to you last night I shaved, showered and got to bed at about 10:30. I was up as usual at 5:30. After reveille I lay down and slept until breakfast. I had oatmeal, toast, butter, grapefruit and 3 bottles of milk. After breakfast I slept until about 7:20. Then I made my bed and we took off for our first test at 8:00. It was Analyt. I know the subject pretty well but we’ve had open book tests all term and have never had to learn the formulas. I figure I did pretty well although I was weak in some places. There were several things I had never heard of and I had to guess at. Of the 50 problems I’d guess I got about 35 or more right. That could be pretty good. It all depends on how the others did. It’s a military secret but I was tied with 3 other guys for highest score on the Physics test. I got 50 out of the 60. I’m not kicking about that at all believe me. I put nearly 2 ½ hours on the Analyt. but if you’ve never seen some of it before time doesn’t help much. I got back to the dorm at about 11. We talked over some of the questions. Then I straightened stuff up a bit and packed my laundry to send out. You’ll find one wool under shirt, one set of pajamas, 2 sets of underwear, 1 towel, 1 wash cloth, 4 or 5 hankies, my shorts and a stack of old letters. At about 12 we ate. I had potatoes, peas & carrots, salad, bread, butter, milk, and pudding. At 1 we had the last of our tests. It was Chem. – 55 questions. We had 2 hours. I finished in 1 ¼. It was a pretty fair test I thought and I hope I got a good grade. I felt as if I knew most of it as I went along but of course I could be wrong. I left at about 2 and came back here. When Ferd got back we dressed and took our laundries down to mail out. Ferd was hungry for some cheese & crackers so we tried to buy some cheese spread. They wouldn’t sell it to us without stamps so we bought some cookies instead.  On the way back I stopped to pick up my dry cleaning but it still isn’t back.  It sounds a little phoney to me but I’ll give him until Monday. We came on back and tried to get some cheese spread at the little store down the street here but they didn’t have any so we finally came back to the dorm. As I came up the stairs I saw that some air corps fellow was talking to Jim Langford about something. Jim is in our section and comes from Flint. He pointed to me and said here’s a fellow from Michigan, maybe he’d know. I stopped and the fellow asked me if I knew anyone around here who had a cousin named Ralph. I told him I guess that was I. He said he was George’s brother-in-law. I knew he was nobody I’d ever seen before. He came on upstairs and sat here and talked for ½ hour or so I guess. He’s in Sqd. D. and has been here about 4 weeks. He said Betty wrote that I was here but didn’t tell him my name. He was asking everybody if they knew a fellow here who used to go to M.S.C. We swapped addresses and he left at about 4 I guess. He didn’t impress me very greatly. I’d judge he was about 25 altho I’m a poor guess at ages. His name is Walter Stuart. He says he’s been in about a year and a half. He was in the ordnance before he came here. He said George was at a P.O.E. the last he heard. He thinks he got a dirty deal. He says George was an inspector at Timkens and should have gone into Ordnance at Custer instead of the Infantry. So that’s today. I’ve run into some pretty far distant relatives but I don’t think I’d ever hunt him up. My first impression is that he isn’t my type person. I think I like Ferd better than I would him even if I got to know him.

Well that’s the story up to now at 5:00. It’s time to go to supper so I’ll sign off. I didn’t get any mail today but I didn’t expect to.

Back at 9:35 p.m. For supper I had potatoes, spinach, sliced toms, bread, butter, milk, and rolls. After supper I shined my buttons, washed up a bit and started a letter to Hugh. At 7:15 Ferd and I went to the show and we just got back. It was the “Iron Major” with Pat O’Brien. It was about Frank Cavanaugh, a football coach. The engineer all-star basketball team played the Univ. team tonight and beat them 36-30. I didn’t see the game but Arkansas is going to have a dark season if we can [can’t?] beat them. That’s about all there is to say for today so I’ll close this, finish my letter to Sergeant Miller & get to bed. So long for now.

Sun. Nov. 28, 8:35 p.m. I finished writing to Hugh and got to bed at about 10:15 last night. I was on the ball today. I had one of the fellows wake me up at 7:45 and I went to breakfast for the first Sunday since about the middle of last term. I had French toast, syrup, toast, butter, oatmeal, milk, jam, and grapes. After breakfast I came back and went to work on History. It seems as if it takes me so long to do so little. It took me until dinner time to get through 3 chap., about 50 pages, of history. I tried to go a little slow and really get something out of it but I don’t know how well I succeeded. For dinner I had potatoes, string beans, beets, salad, bread, butter, milk, and ice cream. After dinner I came back and went at my Physics. I got one long chap. read by 2 o’clock. I decided I’d had enough for awhile so I quit and went to the show. It was “In Old Oklahoma” with John Wayne & Francis Farmer (I think). It was a western picture about oil in Oklahoma. It was sort of good to see something without a war background. I got back at about 4:10 and dug into my Physics again. At 5 I went to supper. I had potato salad, carrots, salad, biscuits, butter, milk, rolls and jello. After supper I went back to the Physics. I finally finished the 3 chapters of it in time to go to study at 7. I spent the first hour doing Physics problems, then I did my Analyt. for tomorrow and started this. Its 9:15 now and I’m back in the dorm. Except for mealtimes and the 2 hrs. at the show I’ve been behind a book all day. I’m pretty well caught up in everything now except Military. We have a test in that Wed. and I’m afraid it will be pretty doggone tough as usual. Well that’s another weekend. I wrote 7 letters last week which is some sort of a record I guess. I still have 5 to answer but except for Nate none are important. Next week at this time I should have been home nearly 24 hours. Oh boy. It’s really going to be good to get home again. This would really be bad if we didn’t get the break at the end of each term. By the end of the term I’m about ready to quit but I came back full of energy last time and it’s lasted up to the last week or so. Sometimes it seems as if the whole thing isn’t worth it but I think of what the boys are getting who leave here and I know its’ worthwhile. People in general think we have it pretty soft, we are the favored few in this army. Civilians say to us, You boys have it pretty easy don’t you? I’ll let them take my place awhile if they think its easy. There’s no physical strain but it still is a mental strain or whatever you can call it. We are working under pressure all the time. Well its time for lights out so I’ll sign off for tonight. It won’t be long now.

 

Love,

Son