No Green Today

The afternoon yesterday seemed to get hotter and hotter. The temperature inside the dorm is well over 90 degrees which was even hotter than the air temperature outside. The ceiling fans provide some relief but I swear the heat is still coming out of the ducts!

I really didn’t want to go to the dining hall for dinner as the food items for me were limited to cornbread and green beans; however, I needed some relief from the hot dorm. The air outside was cooling as the sun was setting and it was very nice. I ate the cornbread and green beans even though I was not that hungry. It was good to get outside the dorm even if it was only for a few minutes to the dining hall. Once dinner was over it was back to the dorm so I could wait for the evening yard to open. It opened 45 minutes late due to the very slow dinner feeding which has been the case lately. I was happy to be outside and now that the sun had finally set, the air temperatures had dropped into the 60’s. The evening air was perfect especially when compared to the stuffy dorm. The temperature difference between the dorm and the air outside had to be at least 30 degrees I wandered over to the telephones in order to find my friend and to also sign up for a telephone call. The last time I spoke with my wife was last Sunday so I was hoping to speak with her this Sunday. However; I was once again shutout for a sign up time as there were at least 200 inmates trying to sign up for the 77 time slots.

It seemed as everyone was outside last night especially those who were signing up for the telephone. My friend was also shutout for a sign up time. After the very lengthy sign up process was over, I walked a few leisurely laps with my friend and two other inmates. I knew the two other inmates and I didn’t mind walking with them. These two inmates are very nice guys and sometimes (actually often) I wonder how did they got to a place like this. Not many inmates express freely their circumstances of coming to a place like this so I don’t know the complete stories on these two inmates. Also, one of them is serving a very long sentence having completed 4 years with 7 more to go. Whatsoever the circumstances of his crime I don’t know, but I will say I have no right to judge anyone at anytime. I made a horrible mistake which brought me to this place. My mistake was caused by my completely out of control compulsive gambling addiction. Others inside here have committed similar mistakes brought on by addiction issues and also circumstance issues. Deep down 98% of the human population are good decent people which leaves 2% as bad people. Thankfully, the inmates I have met in the past 8 months, especially here, have all been in the 98 percentile good people who made bad mistakes.

I really didn’t want to go back inside the hot dorm and really wanted to sleep outside. Of course there were no options for me as I had to go back inside the dorm as required. Needless to say sleeping wasn’t very comfortable nor did it come easy. I tossed and turned most of the night but did manage a few hours of sleep.

Today is St. Patrick’s Day which has grown into a huge marketing success for the alcohol industry. I am one quarter Irish (my father’s mother) so Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Unfortunately I have no green clothes to wear as my colors are limited to white, grey, blue, and maroon. I won’t be wearing green today but I hope everyone stays safe and enjoys their day.