Rules

Rules are plentiful in prison which is a very good thing! There are rules for the inmates by the prison system enforced by the correction officers. There are also rules by the inmates enforced by the inmates. I have touched on some on some of these in previous postings and I believe I will touch on these again in the future. The toughest part about both types of rules is the absence of a rulebook. The rules are passed down through the practice and thankfully first time inmates get more latitude from both the correction officers and fellow inmates. Last night I ran afoul of one of these rules for the inmates enforced by the CO’s, and I certainly didn’t intend to break any kind of rule.

As I ventured outside for the night version of the yard, I was ordered back by one of the CO’s. I had been able to participate in night yard on Monday where I scheduled a 7:45 pm telephone call in order to speak with my wife. However, as soon as I stepped outside I was ordered back to the dorm. Apparently, one of the rules precludes me from participating in night yard until I meet with my counselor at classification. Yes, I was allowed to participate on Monday night but not tonight. The enforcement of the rule is at the digression of the CO and he told me I was ineligible to participate.

The frustrating part about all this was having my wife wait for me to phone her and I was unable to tell her I couldn’t call. I suspect there will be more times in the future to make the scheduled call time. There will be a variety of reasons such as having the yard on lockdown. I’ve been told this could last up to a month. I sure hope this doesn’t happen while I am here but this is yet again another example of the plethora of items that are beyond my control.

I was very disappointed to not be able to get outside so I could call my wife. I also had a letter which I was going to mail and the only way to do that is through the mailboxes outside on the yard. I was fortunate enough to have a fellow dorm mate drop the letter in the box for me. I was very comfortable with giving another inmate an unsealed envelope (another one of the rules) but my choices were limited since I needed to send it out tonight, otherwise the letter would not have been sent out until Monday. The mail process is much the same as the Reception Center. Mail is delivered Monday thru Friday and sent out Monday thru Thursday. The only difference here is that the mailboxes are located outside on the yard and not in the dorm.

Getting back to my disappointment of not making the phone call – I did have another call scheduled for this afternoon so I could finally speak with my children. (Here comes another adjustment) As I was watching TV with the other inmates, in walked the CO with ducats which is a request sent by a specific department re medical classification, education, or any other department within the prison to an inmate for the purpose of an appointment. One of the ducats was directed to me and it was from the medical department. No need to be alarmed because this is standard operating procedure for all incoming inmates and is certainly a prerequisite for fire camp. The date of the ducat was today and the time was the exact time I had schedules for the phone call to my children. Geez! I can’t seem to get a break!
I was happy to receive this ducat because it means the process was well on its way. Of course, I was extremely disappointed because it meant I couldn’t speak with my children. Adjustments and being flexible are the key – for me – in a place like this. As I was walking out this morning, in order to prepare for the instructor’s exam tomorrow, I saw an inmate who I had been introduced to a few days ago and he is from the same town where I used to live. This inmate has been here a few years and has a great deal of “local knowledge.” I decided to ask him about my double booking dilemma – the telephone call and medical app’t. He told me since the medical office is outside the gate and the CO’s only unlock this gate at 15 minutes to the hour that I should make my call for the allotted 15 minutes and when it was over the gate should be opened so I could make the app’t. I thought this was sound advice, but I was a little hesitant because I am one of those people who hate to be late for anything. The overriding factor was the need to hear the voices of my children.

I finished my fairly strenuous workout this morning which I prefer over afternoon workouts. I have always been a morning person and have always enjoyed working out first thing in the morning. This is one of the positives of becoming an instructor for the physical training class because the first one starts at 7:00 am. I am not so sure how I will do on this test tomorrow because I am not ready. I need at least one more week – possibly two – of working out with these new exercises. I will give it my best shot and whatever happens will happen. It is very ironic because as I finished that last sentence one of my dorm mates came over and asked me how my workout went today. (Before I get to that, it is also interesting that no matter where I seem to be house I find one person I seem to click with and that person was the one to ask me that question) I told him about it and some of my concerns. He gave me some very good advice. He said I am in good shape and I shouldn’t stress on the exercises. He went on to say 70% of that exam is mental and I should be able to get through it. He is correct. I have been doubting myself with so many excuses. The fact of the matter is I am in good shape and mentally I have to believe this. With this newfound advice, I am interested to see how it goes tomorrow morning.

When we have afternoon yard, I have been making it a point to schedule my telephone call. The selections are made at 1:00 pm and the inmate must be present to reserve a time slot. This should not have been a problem since my call was scheduled for 1:30 and the drawing process only takes 10 minutes. However, today the CO responsible for this was delayed and he didn’t get to the process until 1:25. I had to get on the phone by 1:30 in order to get to my medical app’t by 1:45. I waited anxiously and my name was called at 1:29, but there were 10 other inmates in front of me selecting their phone time. A few minutes later, I finally selected the time and as I walked to the telephone at 1:35, I noticed two CO’s standing near the OPEN gate where I had to go for the app’t. Once I saw this, I knew I couldn’t speak long to my wife and children. I dialed, heard her lovely voice, and told her I needed to hurry. I did have time to hear both my children’s voices for a few seconds. My five year old son sounds the same as he did 2 ½ months ago, but my 8 year old daughter sounded like she got older. It is amazing what a few short months can do in the life of a child. Boy, I do miss them terribly. It was so good to hear their voices even though it was very brief. We were only on the phone for a few minutes when I told my wife I would call her on Saturday afternoon. I hung up and hurried over to the open gate where the CO’s were standing. As I approached, they told me to come back in 20 minutes because they were changing shifts!

I was a bit exasperated, but the only thing I could do was accept their response. I went back to the telephone and called my wife again. We talked for a few minutes when the call was cut off without warning 15 minutes to the second. Again there were no “Good-byes” or “I love you”, just a disconnect sound. At the very least we did speak more and hopefully things will go smoother on Saturday.

I finally got to my medical appointment 30 minutes late. When I got into the clinic and the nurse called my name tight away which was quite surprising. She administered an eye exam which I think I passed, but she didn’t tell me. I went and sat down after the eye exam to hear the CO call/butcher my name. I went up to him and he told me that I was being rescheduled due to the fact all the doctors went to an unexpected meeting and he didn’t know when they would return. Oh well, so goes prison life. Who knows what would have happened if I arrived on time? I suspect I would have been rescheduled as well because I saw another inmate who had an appointment an hour earlier and he also had to be rescheduled. Hopefully, this won’t slow down the process and I do receive a ducat tonight for tomorrow which I am sure will conflict with my instructor’s exam! As always, I will keep everyone posted . This may seem mundane but in all honesty, these things make my days go by faster. At the very least, it makes me very flexible.