I was very happy today when I got your letters. It was the first mail that I've received here so far. I've got a lot of things to tell you and I hope I can get them all in this letter. I will start out with what I consider my biggest news! I've ordered a car! Yes I didn't wast much time in ordering it, and guess what kind it is! A LOTUS EUROPA!
I can hardly believe it my self, even though I've already paid 10% down on it and I should get it in a week or two. The total price, including transportation and everything came to $3577.00. That's about $800 less than the one I priced in Portland if I remember right!
I'm in the process of getting a $2599 loan from the American Express which gives fairly good deals to military personnel, and the balance of it I will pay with my own funds, (about $727.00). So when I get it I will have $1077 paid on it, and I will have the loan paid in 24 months. The only thing that will really kill me is the insurance which will be very high, although I don't know yet exactly how much. But this car is so great, and I want it badly enough, that I am willing to pay the extra for the insurance! The color will be what they call burnt sand.
Someone is going to drive it direct from Britain to a place called Kaiserslaten Germany, and the agent who sold it to me will drive me there so I can pick it up. It's a brand new 1971 and the only miles on it will be what it takes to get it here from England. Needless to say I am very excited about getting it!! I went out a few days ago and bought a coat that was made in England, and it's a Harris Tweed which you probably have heard of...It really looks sharp and I thought it would be appropriate with the Lotus! I will write later and tell you all about it when I get it.
Now I will go back in time a few weeks and tell you about my trip over here because I guess I neglected to do that in my last letter.
I was very nervous about making my flight to Germany from Ft. Dix, but as it turned out I didn't have anything to worry about. I got to Ft. Dix at about 9:00 PM and if you remember, I had to be there no later than 1:00 AM. Well it turned out that the flight wasn't supposed to leave until 3:00 AM. That's a night I won't soon forget because the plane didn't really leave until 6:45 AM, so I spent the night (about 9 1/2 hours) waiting in that terminal with about 300 other people. But finally we did leave! The plane wasn't the best I've flown but it was a regular commercial DC 8. It was a charter outfit called universal Air Lines which I have never heard of and probably will never hear of again. The pilot was a fat old man who looked like he just got off an all night drunk and the stewardesses were nothing to write home about...so I won't. But I won't gripe too much, because they did get me here one way or the other. The flight over was the shortest day I've ever seen. the sun was just rising when we left, and since we were flying against it, 3 hours or so later it was already getting dark out the window. I didn't see much on the way, except what the pilot said was Nova Scotia as we left, a patch of ocean here and there between clouds, the coast of England in the dark and the lights of Paris just before we landed. It was about 7PM in Frankfurt when we landed.
I just found out a few days ago that I'm not where I thought I was! That might sound funny, but it's true. When I first got here the only clue I had as to where I was was to look for the city Neustadt on the map since that was the place I went to on the train. Well it turns out that there are about a half dozen Neustadt's in Germany and I was looking at the wrong one. So I'm not right on the East German border like I told you before, in fact I am only about 35 miles from Erlangen, where I was going to go in the first place, about the same distance west of Nurenburg. It's not really a bad position to be in, except that there isn't any big city real close.
Now I'm going to try and tell you something about my job, or at least what I know about it so far. The first two weeks I spent in Headquarters mostly waiting, which I am used to by now, but on the pretext of "processing in" to the unit. During the holiday it was very hard because most everything was closed down, and when they were open they only worked half days. But I finally finished going through all the red tape and got to see the Colonel. Right now I am in a rather strange position in that I am not actually in charge of the club and won't be for another month or so. They want me to just hang around the club and the manager and try to learn as much about it as possible before I am put officially in charge. This is really good for me and I didn't really expect to get such a good deal. The only thing is I feel kind of in the way and useless and I will be glad when I actually have some authority. Although I am not officially in charge, I've been hanging around enough and bugging everybody that I was finally given a little responsibility today. In fact tonight at 12:00 PM I am going to take in the money and lock up. Right now its 9:30 PM and I'm writing this letter in the office of the club (trying to look busy) The bar stays open till 12:00. We serve 3 meals a day, but just about the only people who eat here , unless there is a banquet or something are the single officers and teachers (who teach at the school on post and also live in the BOQ) One thing I would really like to start is getting more married people coming to dinner etc. The food isn't too bad now that they got this new German cook, but everybody is still scared off from the last cooks who were enlisted men, and from what I understand smoked dope in the kitchen and I guess their food showed it. Also along with the club I will be in charge of the BOQ's which are right next to the club. I have already been given the job of finding furniture for quite a few of the rooms that are completely bare and also I have to find and hire some German cleaning lady to do the upkeep over there which they are also lacking. I've got to get this done by the 15th.
Right now the Custodian of the club and the NCO club and the enlisted men's club is a SSG who was put in as an emergency measure after the 2nd LT. who had been custodian of the O cub was kicked out. I will be taking the O club off his hands in a month or so. He will be leaving about March and at that time if everything is OK at the O' club I will be given the NCO club and the enlisted men's club. I don't know if I should look forward to that or not.
There are 135 members of the officers club, and it is fairly small as O'clubs go, but the building is only about 4 years old and is fairly nice inside although the plaster on the outside is falling off which gives one a bad impression at first. It has a good size bar and a separate little room which has nothing but slot machines in it! Also it has a fairly large room which is used for banquets, dances, etc. and of course an office which I don't really feel I can call mine yet!
My biggest worry doesn't have anything to do with my job at the club. On Jan 16th the Brigade is going to have a real big formal dinner at somplace near Nurenburg. They call it a "Dining In" for some reason. There will be two generals invited to it and it is really a big deal. Well anyway I am now the junior officer of Headquarters and Headquarters company of the 1st Bde, so this give me the dubious honor of being made what they call "Vice President of the Mess" This doesn't have anything to do with the club. What it means is that I have to make two toasts at this big dinner with the Generals. One to the dead soldiers of the Brigade and one to the President of the mess, who is the Colonel. Also along with a few other junior officers I have to recite the history of the 4th Armored Division. My biggest worry about this whole thing besides the fact that I hate to speak in front of groups and the fact that I have never seen a formal toast and don't really know what to say, is the fact that I don't have and Dress Blues! Mainly because the things I shipped from the states haven't got here yet, and it doesn't look like they will by then! Well it's a problem, but I will get a pair one way or the other. Probably will end up borrowing a set from soneone. I will be glad when it's over with.
Well I've written enough for now......
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