Rain, So What

The winter in Northern California or for that matter all of California has been much drier than usual. According to other inmates who have been here a few years, it usually rains much more. Over this past week there has been a rainy streak. Yesterday afternoon it continued to rain which washed out the afternoon and morning session of the PFT Plus class. This was very fortunate because I had to sign up for a telephone call in order to speak with my daughter on her birthday this Sunday. I went over to the area where the telephone sign-ups take place and waited for the process to start. While I waited the rain went from a drizzle to a steady downpour. Unfortunately, there aren’t any places in this area to shelter oneself form the rain so I got extremely wet. I was able to secure a 3:30 pm time slot for Sunday afternoon and hopefully I will be able to place this phone call because there are so many events which could prevent this so all I have is hope.

After entering the dorm, and doing my hygiene ritual and showering, the mail came. Would you believe I actually received one piece of junk mail – even here in prison! How could this be? Apparently Time Magazine sells their mailing list to junk mail companies because this is the only way I can think of that my mailing info has been released. Time is the only publication I receive and now I receive junk mail!

As we were walking to the dining hall in the rain for supper, the alarm went off. Of course when this happens we must get face down on the ground. It was raining all day and at this time, so the ground was saturated so everyone scrambled to the overhang near the dorms which was more tolerable than laying face down on the wet ground. I was hoping this wasn’t a repeat performance of what happened a week and a half ago. We stayed down for about 10 minutes and it wasn’t as serious as the previous incident. Apparently something happened in the gym – (please remember there are 300 inmates in the gym) – as the CO’s were leading an inmate out in handcuffs. I don’t know what happened but I would guess there was a physical altercation. This inmate was being led to the “hole” which is the prison’s jail. After that we were allowed to get up and go to the dining hall.

A few seconds after I sat down another inmate sat down at my table along with one of the kitchen workers who I knew as well. The first inmate was someone I had met a few months ago when I was working out in the yard. This inmate is very “influential” in the inmate assignment office. A few months ago I spoke with him about expediting my process through the training classes in order to get to fire camp sooner. He informed me he could help me for a price, unfortunately everything here can be had for a price. At that point in time I hadn’t received the necessary clearances so I didn’t ask him to pursue anything because I was eligible for the training classes. He had helped with another instructor get into the fire training class rather quickly and I inquired about the process. After I graduated from the PFT class, he asked me if I wanted him to expedite my entry into the fire fighting training class. I thought long and hard about this question and I even spoke to my friend for advice. First off the price of $7.00 which equals one jar of coffee and 5 soups is nothing and certainly not a problem. However, based on the conversation I had with my friend, and seeing how fast others are getting into the fire fighter training class I decided to pass.

I exercised until the rain had stopped. My friend was kind enough to give me his 10:45 am telephone slot. I was hoping to call my mother and speak with her. As it turned out she wasn’t at home but I spoke with my stepfather for almost the entire 15 minutes before we were unceremoniously cut off. It was very good to speak with him and he sounded great! He had a heart attack on my birthday almost 6 months ago and he said he was feeling very good. We had an excellent conversation and he told me what a daredevil my daughter has become while riding one of the quads he bought for her and her cousin. I am not exactly sure where my daughter gets this daredevil streak from because I was a very cautious child and so was my wife. According to my stepfather, my daughter exhibits no fear when it comes to driving the quad. He has given her and her cousin a course on safety and she always wears a helmet. I am sure this daredevil streak is causing some angst with my wife, my mother and my grandmother. It does sound like my daughter is having a lot of fun. Of course, I hope she stays safe while riding the quad. It was a great conversation and I was glad I had the opportunity to speak with him.