Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
September 14, 1943

Dear Aunty Clara,

Tuesday

Whew, busy just isn't the word for it. We are actually flooded with work and there never seems to be any let up. One thing that almost all the clerks have noticed is that this yanking us out on the extra jobs while we still have work in the office is having an effect on its accuracy. Little things which take time to check and take care of and which were slipshodded by while we were working on those projects are now coming back to stare us in the face. For my part it disheartens me to find that I had been trying to run an errorless section and it just isn't being done.

The movie for tonight is "Human Comedy" with Mickey Rooney and I am the operator of the machine. It is supposed to be a good hit and those who knew they would not be able to see the show this evening mad a special trip up to the other outfit with Lt Yantis yesterday to see it.

The footlocker is just about done as I perfected the drawer this noon so that it slides in and out with comparative ease. Only one or two little problems remain such as a little catch to keep the side up by itself while I open the drawer.

An expression which is becoming popular among the boys is "the mountains are closing in". In the old days when a fellow would act a little tetched in the head they use to call that "bucking for a Section VIII discharge (mental unfit)" but now this new one has taken its place along with a closely related saying, "He's island happy." They all mean the same thing in civilian slang, "Nuts he is, I say."

Say if it isn't too late to put in a last minute item onto that Christmas list, I can give you a humdinger. I would like to have a world Atlas. I don't mean one of the giant book forms but just a paper bound edition filled with general maps and information for various spots on the globe. We have a few floating around and you can bet they are referred to time and time again as the Allies make new advances. It would be convenient if I had one to keep in my desk right at hand.

By the way, I finished my payroll today among other things. I had made three mistakes in all but two of them were omissions which I did over again so the only one I know of right now is the one in which the typewriter skipped a space in Larry Isaacson's name.

No word from "friend" Blumenfeld yet. Somehow I think he was the fair weather variety now although I will with-hold condemnation until I hear his reasons for not getting in touch with us.

There has been no candy bars purchased by me today but that didn't mean I didn't eat any. All I did eat was a total of one and here is how it came about. Nyalka wanted me to sing a song and I surprised the office by bursting out with "Buddy Can You Spare a Dime?". I kept it up for a line or two when Simanoff, who had been passing by, stepped in, gave me a candy bar and told me to eat it instead of singing. I did.

They have little candy bar out which is very tasty. It is Heath's English Toffee and seems to be remarkably fresh.

Larry still is on permanent guard duty but lately it has become somewhat of a headache to him for the guard mount is no longer as easy going as before and now they stick to the rules and regulations. He is on for the twenty-four hour stretch and doesn't have sixteen of them off as before.

The drawback to his having guard is that his day off is a split day coming between five and five in the evening.

So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman