What Nerds Do In The Summer

The #1 son is all psyched to go to his engineering camp in a couple of weeks. Seems we neglected to fill out some of the paperwork, even though we paid the hefty fee a month ago. Sooo...the paperwork is done, man! And in an envelope ready to be mailed tomorrow, since the mail goes out at 4:00 and the error of omission was discovered at 3:51 today.

#1 says he hopes he does not get a roommate who is a loser. I don't know what kind of loser he might be considering. If he means a nerd like Lewis and Gilbert in Revenge of the Nerds, or like Spaz in Meatballs, well...those are exactly the kind of people you would expect to attend an engineering camp.

I told him he would probably get a guy just like himself. I do not know if his sigh signified relief, or horror.

The longest piece of paperwork was the health form. We knew exactly when his last tetanus shot was, because it was just the icing on the cake when he got that shaky-handed retired surgeon at the ER to sew his eyebrow back together after slamming his head into the concrete-block gym wall at basketball practice back in '09. And the lucky dog has no food or drug allergies. I told him I hope he doesn't get a peanut boy for a roommate, and accidentally kill him by eating some peanut butter crackers and daring to exhale.

He does, however, take medicine for seasonal allergies. And was quite willing to go without them for the four days he will be at camp, so as not to be special and have to take meds. What does he think it's going to be like, anyway, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest? I doubt it. He's never seen that movie. But I guarantee that Nurse Ratched won't be forcing meds on the future engineers.

#1 will be dropped off on a Sunday afternoon. He has already told Parental Unit H that it will not be necessary for him to stay for supper, which was an option in the registration. He is chomping at the bit. I have no doubt that he will love every minute of it. He'll soak up the collegiate atmosphere. He makes friends easily. He is one smart dude, and he'll be in his element.

I, on the other hand, will miss him terribly.