Dreary Day

Finally after the meeting I was able to place the telephone call to my wife. I got through and spoke with her. Oh, those 15 minutes sure seem like the fastest 15 minutes in my life. We only spoke about two subjects – the package I received last week and my attorney’s office. The more I continue to hear about them, the angrier I become. It has now been five months since my sentencing and there are still loose ends which need to be tied up. My poor wife has to deal with all of this by herself and she continues to get the big run around. The request may seem simple yet the process is being made way too complex. I look forward to the day when I no longer have to deal with my attorney or his office. As for the package, it does seem my wife ordered the missing items but they never showed up in the package. The good thing was she was not charged for those items. All in all, it would have been nice to have the missing products but it really is no big deal. I got along fine without them so far and will continue to get along without them for now. The telephone call ended so quickly, we didn’t have time to talk about the children. Based on all the letters I have received my children are still doing very well.

I received some pictures from my father who was visiting NJ during the Thanksgiving Holiday. As I receive each picture, I keep noticing more and more things about my children. Of course they are still adorable and will always be in my eyes. My son’s face looks like it is becoming more defined and he is losing the roundness of his baby years. My daughter’s hair is getting so long and she is getting more beautiful. Next summer can no come fast enough because this is when I will get to see them. Presumably if all goes well on my medical tests I should be transferred to a fire camp in March or April. This way – come July or August, my family can come to visit me. From what I have been told, most of the fire camps are much less ominous than the prison. A visit to the will seem like camping in the mountains to my children. I know the visit will be brief but one hug from them and it will be well worth it.

I forgot to mention that I received my timesheet for the month of November. Apparently payroll is done on a monthly basis. I started my position on the 14th of November and worked throughout the rest of the month. I didn’t work on Thanksgiving Day and the day after because they were scheduled holidays. I worked roughly half the month and grossed $9.10 – WOW! Remember this is the gross amount and 40% of it will go to restitution, leaving me with $5.46 in my inmate trust account. As I mentioned previously, the fact that I have something productive and constructive to do from Monday thru Friday is pay enough for me. Many other inmates are without a job of any type. I was very fortunate to secure this position and I am very grateful. Making 11 cents an hour certainly doesn’t bother me. I used to make a heck of a lot more than this but those jobs were nowhere near as rewarding as this one. Obviously, when my time is served I will not be able to provide for my family making 11 cents an hour, but whatever position I am able to obtain, I do hope it will be rewarding.

Yesterday afternoon marked the end of all the PFT classes. Due to the fact that I performed one of the rotations during the morning class, my role was limited. I was debating whether or not to exercise in this class but I decided on being an instructor during the class for the first time. This meant I would walk around where the students do their exercises and encourage them and show them the proper techniques. While I was doing this, it dawned on me how physically demanding this class really is. Only the three instructors in front of the class were able to perform all the required exercises while all the students had to stop at one point or another. This class is truly no joke. We did have two participants try to pass the instructor test during the class but they gave up during the first rotation. I must admit I am impressed with the fitness level of my fellow instructors. From the youngest of 22 – to the oldest of – 57 all of them are in great shape and gave me a new level of appreciation for my fellow inmates. The class had ended and I didn’t believe any further exercise was needed. My old bones were telling me to rest and I listened. It was time to head back to the dorm for a shower. Also, due to the fact yesterday was Friday and I needed to do my weekly laundry.

I was able to do my laundry and have my 1000th peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch and take a shower all before going to dinner. My hunger seemed to diminish yesterday afternoon after I had lunch, finished the baked potato chips, two graham crackers and two granola bars. I wasn’t famished after eating all of this food. It was now time for dinner and somehow a double helping of mashed potatoes is considered a protein because I didn’t receive the usual two tubes of peanut butter. I inquired about that because there weren’t any beans on the tray nor any discernible proteins. However, according to the kitchen supervisor, I didn’t receive the peanut butter because I received a second helping of the mashed potatoes. I didn’t argue and just said thank you. There are some nights like last night when I just shake my head in disbelief because the vegetarian diet given to me and other inmates like myself is not exactly well-balanced but as of right now, I am not going to subject my body to the meats which are served here. Last night the main entrée was turkey and every piece I saw was a not solovely shade of gray and even when I ate turkey, I couldn’t bring myself to eat what was served last night. Anyhow, I ate the mashed potatoes, broccoli, and salad. Surprisingly enough I was done eating for the evening because I was full.

I spent all of last night writing letters. Normally I would have saved them for today but I wanted to save a very special long letter for today which I did. I was able to compose four letters last night and by the time I finished it was past 10:00 pm. It was a great way to spend a Friday night (really). While I was sitting on my bunk writing, there was a brief verbal altercation with a few of the dorm mates over the television schedule for the evening. One of my dorm mates thought wrestling was part of the agreed upon schedule but somehow his wrestling program was overrode. “Fake Wrestling” is very big in a place like this. I listened to him almost break down in tears because he couldn’t watch wrestling. Finally, after 15 minutes he gave up his fight and accepted the program schedule without wrestling. It is apparent all fights in a place like this are over something stupid. I’m glad the episode last night over the TV schedule did not escalate any further. Most of the dorm mates are level headed and even the dorm mate arguing knew not to push his opinion any further. Last night was the first time I have witnessed any tension in my dorm and thankfully it subsided very quickly. My placement into the dorm has worked out very well so far.

Even though it was a non-work evening, I still turned in by 10:30 pm and was fast asleep in a matter of minutes. Of course I woke up at 5:00 am like clockwork but stayed in my bunk for another hour before getting up. When I finally did get out of my bunk I looked out the window and saw it was going to be a dreary day. The weather called for rain all weekend with high winds and it appeared they were correct. It did rain overnight and the ground was wet. It wasn’t raining as I walked to breakfast. My normal breakfast partner departed for fire camp two days ago and now I found a seat by myself but the table never stays empty because someone always sits with me. This morning was no exception and one of the inmates that I am friendly with and who is also part of the PFT class came over and sat with me. This was a very nice gesture because he was almost done with his breakfast. Even though I may not readily sit with other inmates, I am always able to trade away my food without fail. All I look for in return is hot cereal. Today I traded away the hard boiled egg – YUK! – and the French toast for hot cereal. That always seems to satisfy my hunger and this morning I added some peanut butter to make it more filling. Breakfast was over and I walked back to my dorm with the person who sat next to me at breakfast. As we walked back, he kept asking me questions about the test in PFT class. I answered all his questions. Incidentally the test is on Wednesday. He wanted to know if I was coming out this afternoon when the yard opens. I told him I am and he asked me to help him with some of the exercises on the test. I told him I would be happy to and we made arrangements to meet in the afternoon. Meanwhile I went back to the dorm and had the entire morning to write letters.

I started out the morning taking off my “blues” which are required when I go to breakfast on the weekend. I put on a pair of workout shorts and a sweatshirt. As I was putting on the shirt I noticed a funky smell. I took the sweatshirt off and smelled the inside only to realize this sweatshirt was indeed “Smell Funky”. It looks like I forgot to wash it with my weekly laundry. I immediately went into the bathroom to wash it. I had my bar of soap but I added a dash of aloe and lanolin body wash to really wash out the funky smell. I didn’t realize how bad an unwashed garment could get until I smelled this sweatshirt! I guess I am getting used to washing my clothes in the sink and it certainly beats having clothes that stink. After washing the sweatshirt I decided to read the most recent issue of Time for about 30 minutes. While I was reading it, I realized I am really not missing much on the events of the foreign policy. Nothing seems to have changed in the past five months. It look like things are about to change in Iraq but I wonder whether it really will.

I proceeded to put the magazine down and write one letter. I guess I write slowly because it took me an hour and a half and I still wasn’t finished. At this point the CO came into the dorm and called my name. He told me I needed to go to R&R to pick up a package. I knew what was in the package because one of the clerks on the yard told me unofficially yesterday that my “replacement” package had arrived. My mother continues to amaze me because she was able to send me another pair of running shoes in a bigger size. She did a great deal of leg work to get me these sneakers and in the process she was assisted by a very hospitable sergeant. I went directly over to R&R and received my new shoes without waiting and without any issues. Unfortunately, this very hospitable sergeant was not on duty today so I could not thank him. I do owe him much gratitude in allowing this to happen. I will make it a point to seek him out and thank him personally.

I returned from R&R and immediately tried on my new shoes. They fit so much better than the previous pair and it looks like the toenail on my big toe has been saved. Also, for some reason, these running shoes appear more durable even though they are the same ones just in a different size. I guess all the miles I put on the other ones really wore them down. I suspect the same thing will happen to this new pair but I will enjoy the newness for as long as it lasts. I was happy to receive these new running shoes today because I was wondering if I should run or do the Harvard Wall. The sky was still very dreary and the winds were whipping around but there was no rain. Normally I don’t like to run when it is windy but today I really wanted to break in my new running shoes so I decided to run a few miles.

The afternoon yard opened up and I met with the person I had breakfast with so I could help him with the exercises in the PFT class. I helped him for about 20 minutes and I felt as if it were during the week. I was encouraging him the entire time. This inmate has not worked out much in his almost 40 years of existence, but I must say he was truly trying his hardest. I hope he passes the class and I also tried my best to help him. He was able to do all the exercises which are on the test. When he completed those exercises the look of joy on his face was priceless. It was very good helping him and normally I would have been more concerned with my run and getting my miles in but I would forego my entire workout seeing the look of genuine pride on his face as he completed these exercises. After he finished, we talked for a few minutes but the wind was blowing hard and as usual I became cold. He noticed me shivering and told me to get on with my run. I would have stayed and talked longer but I needed to move so I could warm my body up.

I embarked on my run with my new running shoes. They felt good on my feet but the wind was blowing at 30 miles an hour. At one point on the track I felt like I was running backwards. After the second mile I felt footsteps behind me which is not unusual. Very rarely does someone pass me while I am running and if they do they usually stop running in a half a lap later. When I heard the footsteps, I instinctively sped up and decided to see how long it would take for this person to either pass me or stop running. Well these footsteps stayed behind me for the next 2 miles as O continued to increase my speed. The first 2 miles took 16 minutes, the next took less than 14 minutes even into the wind. Finally after those 2 miles the footsteps stopped. I decided to do one more mile because I felt an odd feeling in my left buttock. I finished the 5 miles in a rather brisk pace but I had this odd feeling in my butt. It didn’t feel like I pulled anything but it was still uncomfortable. I have to remember I am not a young man anymore and I am susceptible to injury.

I was doing some stretches after the run to work out this odd sensation. As I was doing the stretches, I heard someone call out coach. I turned back and one of my fellow inmates was addressing me as “Coach”. This inmate came up to me and told me he was the footsteps behind me as I was running. This is the same inmate who I spoke with about two weeks ago regarding increasing his speed while running. He wanted to know how fast we were running when he was behind me. I told him 7 minute miles and he seemed quite pleased. I didn’t tell him about my possible injury – I do have some pride – but I told him he was doing great. He was very proud to be noticed and I encouraged him to keep going. Hopefully, he does continue because he seems to be enjoying his running. Shortly after my stretching session and this conversation I met up with the person I helped earlier in the afternoon. We worked on more exercises and I told him I would help him tomorrow morning. Even though I didn’t do my usual 10 plus miles today my day went by so fast and it was very rewarding.