Normally I Like Mondays

I had a very enjoyable workout session yesterday morning in the brilliant sunshine. It appears most of the nation is in a deep freeze whereas out here in Northern California we are having higher than expected temperatures. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to exercise on such a beautiful Sunday morning. I had planned to exercise in the morning but I was thinking about taking it easy. By the time the morning yard had opened I only had a little less than two hours to workout. Once again the modified breakfast release schedule delayed the opening of the yard. I made very good use of the time allotted in the yard.

As the yard opened I had an administrative chore to take care of and it had something to do with the surprise for my children. However, the chore did not go so well because I got nothing accomplished. (I will write more about this at a later point if the surprise for my children actually happens but for now I will keep it to myself.) Once I saw nothing was going to be accomplished I started in on exercising.

The morning yard always closes at 11:30 am and yesterday was no exception. Once back in the dormitory I did what I always do which was launder my clothes, shave and shower. (Before I forget there is another very good reason why I cannot grow a beard, mustache, or goatee or even shave my head – not that I am even thinking about that last one! As a condition of getting into the firefighter training session my physical appearance on Day One of the class MUST match my picture identification card. If it does not match I cannot attend the class until I get another identification card. This may sound as if it isn’t an issue because how hard can it be to obtain a new picture identification card. Well, it is very difficult and can take up to 30 days if not more. This is why my physical appearance will match the appearance on my picture identification card at all cost. There have been countless stories I have heard regarding inmates being delayed their transfer to fire camp. I have already been delayed 2 months while I was getting the medical and paperwork issues taken care of and I want to avoid any other delays at all costs.

I completed my lunch and wanted to ensure I had a seat in the television area for the Super Bowl. The game was not starting for another 2 hours so I decided to watch the never-ending pre-game show. As I watched the game I realized why I have kept to myself over these past 7 months. It is much easier keeping to myself because I don’t have to deal with the plentiful personalities also I am somewhat saddened when I hear some of my dorm mates speak. I have detailed the “you know what I mean” quote which is used adnauseum by many inmates. There is one rather young member of my dorm when he speaks he uses this statement in every sentence. There has got to be a psychological explanation for the continued use of this statement because I have never heard so many people use it so often. This will probably sound condescending so please forgive me; a few of my dorm mates are destined for a life in prison because they are not going to change their ways when they are released. To me this is a shame because some are in their early 20’s and have years ahead of them which shouldn’t be spent in an institution like this. There’s not a lot I can do about this because I have to concentrate on myself first and foremost which means working my recovery each and everyday to the best of my ability.

During the game the dinner release came and I decided to go because at that point I had a feeling the Colts were well on their way to winning and all the good commercials had been shown. The menu was that of black-eyed peas and rice which usually fills me up. I made my way over to the dining hall and now with the modified dinner release schedule there is much less commotion in the dining hall. The very nice C/O saw me enter and I could hear her saying “vegetarian in the house” to the kitchen line workers as I made my way to the front of the line. The vegetarian tray was ready for me as I reached the front with generous portions of rice and black-eyed peas.

Dinners are so fast that when I got back o the dorm I only missed 7 minutes of actual game time and didn’t miss anything special. The 4th quarter of the game was remaining which was very anti-climatic. I had my fill of television for the day and besides the evening yard was opening up very soon. The timing of opening the evening yard was almost perfect because the Super Bowl had been over for about 5 minutes and then the door was opened. I made my way over to my friends dorm and found him still inside. Once again, he was thinking about not coming out because he had stayed inside and watched every moment of the Super Bowl telecast. I did convince him to come out and he did. We walked and talked for about 45 minutes prior to the telephone sign ups. Thankfully, the telephones are supposed to be fixed by Tuesday evening and they were having the sign up selections. It has been one week since I spoke with my wife and I look forward to speaking with her on Tuesday. I am still working on getting a telephone call for Thursday afternoon so I can speak with my son on his 6th birthday. This will be difficult because Thursday I can sign up for a morning or evening telephone call but not the afternoon. My son is in school during the morning and will be asleep at night due to the 3 hours time difference. I am trying to arrange for an afternoon call and hopefully I can get this done. My daughter’s birthday is next Sunday which is much easier because I will be able to reach her during the afternoon while she is at home. Of course all of this is predicated on the telephones being available.

I was happy to accomplish the telephone sign up and the protein drinks during evening yard. But I was very happy to have the opportunity to walk a few miles and talk with my friend during the evening yard. It was once again a good way to spend an evening in prison. Over all my first Super Bowl incarceration wasn’t so bad and the best thing is now that it is over.

I got back to the dormitory and decided to listen to the radio prior to falling asleep. My schedule is very good that I was able to fall asleep at 10:00 pm. However; I was awakened at 11:00 pm as the C/O threw down my undershirt which was hanging on my clothesline. As the undershirt was thrown I woke up and calmly folded it and put it in my laundry bag with the rest of my clothes which is located at the foot of my bed. I was able to fall asleep a few minutes later. I did wake up once again during the night because I was extremely warm. After tossing and turning I got out of my bunk at the normal time of 5:30 am.

Normally I like Mondays because it is the start of my work week and today meant there were only 2 days remaining of the PFT class, today and tomorrow. However, the modified breakfast release schedule meant there wouldn’t be an early breakfast unlock. Also, to complicate matters the talk on the yard last night was the C/O’s were going to do a “weapons” (which means razor blades) inspection and everyone had to remain in their dorms while this was happening. I tend not to believe anything I hear until it actually happens so I remained hopeful I would get outside and have the PFT class. Well, this hope was dashed quite quickly as we were not even allowed out for breakfast. The C/O’s brought a sack breakfast and a sack lunch directly to the dorm; no one was allowed to be outside. I knew Monday was ruined and I was (again) hoping that this inspection would be over shortly so the PFT class can commence tomorrow. Those hopes were diminished as the talk centered around the inspection taking two days.

I knew I shouldn’t listen to the rumors because the “weapons” inspection was not for this yard. Yes, we stayed locked in the dorms all morning because all the C/O’s went over to the level 3 yard to do the inspection. I am still worrying about the PFT class because if I still stay locked down tomorrow it is supposed to rain Wednesday trough Friday. This means the current PFT class could be cancelled and I would have to start the 9 day class all over again next week. Obviously I hope this does not happen because it will delay my transfer to fire camp. I have said a few prayers and have my fingers crossed but other than that there is little I can do. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen and I must accept it. As always I will keep everyone posted as things develop or in this case as they don’t develop.