Weekends Not So Bad

After my near miss with the Silver bullet, I was inside the dorm for the rest of the afternoon. I have detailed how much I dreaded the weekends; however, over the past few weekends they are truly not so bad. Amazingly enough the they go by pretty fast. I have settled into a nice routine on the weekends which makes the days pass rapidly. These last 3 months have gone by much quicker than the first 3 months. From every report I have received regarding fire camp, time there goes by even faster especially during fire season. I think that starts in late April and goes until the end of October. During fire season some of the fire camps stage 2 to 4 weeks at a fire and each firefighter works 24 hours on and 24 hours off. If this does happen to me I would imagine my writing would suffer but the time will fly by. My timing – which seems to be getting better – should be very good because if (of course this is a big IF) I am transferred to a fire camp in April this is the beginning of fire season and I would literally be jumping directly into the fire.

After lunch was completed I sat down with pen and paper. Somehow when I finished writing 3 hours had vanished. I am relegated to writing the old fashioned way and I do receive the occasional interruption mostly from my neighbor. These are welcomed interruptions especially yesterday when he was asking me to help him with the electronic game. By the way we are not allowed these word games. I think it was a holdover from a time where inmates could have electronic dictionaries and thesauruses. This was a very good diversion and helping him guess certain words did help activate parts of my brain which have been dormant for the past 6 months. In fact this game motivated me so much I took out a crossword puzzle and actually completed it. I have never been one for crossword puzzles or word searches but yesterday I fulfilled a certain need. Normally I would be very apprehensive about sitting inside the entire afternoon but now I am finding ways to make this time pass more quickly.

After finishing my writing and helping with the electronic game I picked up BLINDED. The novel is moving along quite well and the author’s writing style is far better than it was in COLD CASE. The lead character has some very sarcastic lines and metaphors. Also, the bulk of the story takes place in Boulder, Colorado. I have been there while visiting my younger sister who lives in Colorado. I found that city very fascinating and would like to visit there once again. I do need to share a passage in the book where the author describes a roasted vegetable hummus sandwich. One of the characters had a heart attack and needs to start eating healthy. The main character is a healthy eater and buys this sandwich. As the author details this sandwich, I really earned for it. I’m not sure how many readers were salivating at the detail but I sure did. I can’t wait to eat healthy foods once again because all this processed food is taking a toll on me.

While I was waiting for evening yard to open, one of the dorm mates was going through the television schedule for the next week. I was very interested because as I mentioned the programs “24” and “Heroes” are being aired back to back and I didn’t know which would be shown. As I found out, Heroes will be shown! I was very happy to hear this since it is the only show that I watch.

As I was waiting for a telephone sign up in the yard at night, I overheard two inmates talking behind me. I heard their entire conversation since they were right behind me. They were talking about rock concerts and how one inmate saw the Jefferson Starship featuring Grace Slick. He was describing the concert in detail and how Grace Slick made a statement as to how it is a tragedy that teachers, police, and firefighter earn less than professional athletics. The inmate went on to say (and please keep in mind this is a direct quote from him) “Yeah, the concert was right after 2/11 so this was a big deal back then.” Then he went on to ask the other inmate, “What year did 2/11 happen in?” When I heard this, I just shook my head in dismay. Obviously this inmate was referring to 9/11 and the events which took place on September 11, 2001. Those events happened five years ago and I can (sort of) understand not being aware of the year but mistaking the “2” for the “9” is inexcusable. The events of that day were without a doubt the most important events which took place on the US soil in history. However, I must remember I am in prison and unfortunately not many of my fellow inmates are history enthusiasts. Oh well, but if I were to ask this particular inmate what the chemical compounds are found in crystal meth, he would recite them without blinking an eye. I guess it has to do with what is important to the individual.

Once my name was called for the telephone sign-up, my friend and I continued our quasi power walk. He convinced me to get my protein drinks since there was no line. I don’t have access to a scale so I don’t know where my weight stands. I think I am where I started which was 140 pounds. Part of my brain knows I should be another 10 pounds heavier and the other part tells me when I have too much food. I make it a conscious effort to drink these protein drinks on a daily basis. I just have to overcome my fear of getting fat which I am working on one step at a time. Yesterday, being a Saturday was not at all that bad and dare I say –it was very tolerable!