The Script Continues

Yesterday afternoon, the yard opened on time which was good for me because my “script” depended on it. Since I had a 2:00 pm telephone call scheduled, I wanted to get in 70 minutes on the Harvard Wall. This would give me three hours worth of exercising for the day. Yes, this was part of my script and it may sound strange, but these are the things that get me through the day.

I headed over to the telephones for the 2:00 o’clock phone call to my mom. This is better than the 2:45 telephone call where people wait and it’s hard to get in the full 15 minutes. I certainly got the full amount of time talking with my mom and the time continued to blaze on by! We covered a variety of topics at a rapid pace. I look forward to the time where I can leisurely talk with her because these phone calls are at breakneck speeds and I have a hard time recalling what was said. My mom is sharing my anxiety about my ever elusive transfer to fire camp, but I assured her I was okay and I know the transfer would arrive soon. I’m not sure when soon is but eventually I will make it to fire camp this year (I hope??). The conversation was over as soon as it started and I sure wanted to talk more but my time was up. I felt very good after the telephone call.

I met up with my friend who was waiting for me after the phone call. I haven’t spoken to him since yesterday and I was interested in picking up our conversation regarding the alternate plan of getting to fire camp. He wasted no time and started talking about it as soon as we got together. He really wants to get there and even though he is only in his second week of waiting (I am going into the 9th week) he wants out of here. He made me an offer which was very hard to refuse. In fact, I couldn’t refuse it for several reasons – one, was I want to be at the same fire camp with my friend and – two – I really want to get there as soon as possible. We reached an agreement and will know more on Monday. Yes, the transfer is out of my hands but my friend is working all the angles. I trust my friend and I believe he will make things happen fast. As I mentioned I will know more on Monday and there is a possibility this plan won’t work, but it is worth a try.

As I was eating lunch, my dorm mates were watching the Kentucky Derby. My curiosity got the best of me and I did watch the race. I am really not a very smart man (hence I am writing this from prison!) but I know a little about a lot of subjects. I’m not sure where this has come from, but I have always been a worth of “useless knowledge”. As my dorm mates were talking, they were asking me questions and I was able to answer. Yes, these questions had to do with horse racing but like it or not this “useless information” is stored in my brain. When the race was over, I returned to my bunk and continued “my script”.

I almost forgot to mention this quick little story. While I was doing the Harvard Wall exercise, an inmate came up to me to ask a very sensitive question. This is the same one who I snapped at the other day when he asked me to do something. I have known this inmate for the past six months so we are friends. He asked me if he was getting fat. This is a tough question to answer under any circumstances so I took a few seconds before I answered. In my quest to give honest answers, I answered him truthfully with, “Yes, you are.” I was more tactful as I further said, “Since you asked and I do want to be truthful with you then yes, you are getting fat.” He seemed to be a bit surprised by my answer but took it very well. By the way, he is getting fat and has been getting fat ever since he completed the PFT training. He was “gung-go” to finish the class and he was working out. But that was several months ago. He hasn’t done any exercise since and it shows. I encouraged him to start exercising again because it would make him feel better both mentally and physically. I hope he does this because he is a young man – 38 years old and he can change his life with exercising.

The broken record of my night’s sleep continues, but it was a better one as I only got up once during the night. I woke up at a little past 2:30 am wide awake. I was hoping to wake at 2:03:04 am so I could experience the numerologist’s dream of 2:03:04 on 5-05-07. This sequence will sort of occur next year at 3:04:05 am on 6-07-08 and I will be a free man when this occurs!

It was a picture perfect Sunday morning and as I was watching one of my dorm mates, I noticed the CO’s were going dorm to dorm looking for “pruno.” This usually happens on Saturdays, not Sundays. Since I didn’t want to lose my two bananas, I made sure they were well hidden in my locker. Thank goodness, they were not discovered!

After the morning unlock, I went out and got in 11 miles of running. I couldn’t do anymore since my stomach was cramping up. I had company for the last 3 miles as a fellow inmate wanted to run with me. There is more to this story, but I will save it for another time. As he ran with me, it was a bit strange, but I tried to focus on something other than my stomach cramps which is why I only made 11 miles. I had enough and called it a day even though I had about 40 minutes remaining of the morning yard. Even my well intentioned “script” does go astray every now and then.