Not Quite in One Day

The pre-summer heat is upon Jamestown over the past two days and the temperature has been in the 90’s, and with little ventilation inside the dorm it feels even hotter. A few months ago, my mother asked me if I needed a fan and at the time I didn’t. Now I am regretting that decision as a fan is most definitely necessary. I already received my quarterly package and by the time I get my next package I hopefully will be in fire camp.

I completed writing and still had about 2 hours before the afternoon yard opened. I spent this time listening to the radio and peaking into the television area where my dorm mates were watching the NBA game. I didn’t have much interest in the game so I went back to my bunk where I listened to the radio. Normally, the station I listen to has a weekly recap of the events of the past week. However, yesterday there was a horrific accident on one of San Francisco’s major thoroughfares and this was being reported. Quite amazingly, no one was killed and only one person (the truck driver) was injured. A gasoline tanker lost control and flipped over. It then caught fire and the heat was so intense it melted the roadway above which caught on fire. This caused the roadway to collapse. This area is one of the most congested roadways in the San Francisco Bay area and averages 270,000 commuters from Monday thru Friday. Since the accident occurred very early Sunday morning, the damages would have been much worse. Timing certainly helps in many events and the timing of this accident was very fortunate to happen when it did. I listened to some of the reports and it looks like it is going to take months to repair the roadways. Much to the credit of the California Department of Transportation and the Governor’s Office, work has already started to repair this area. I have seen the accident on the local news and this was an extremely intense big fire. Someone was looking out for them because the damage could have been so much worse. I was fascinated with the reports regarding this incident.

Since I was going to run during the afternoon yesterday, I needed something to hold me through the run so I broke down and ate half of a power bar. I was saving them for fire camp but yesterday was the perfect opportunity to have one which was my first bar in 9 ½ months! Before I came to this place I would have one every day at my desk after working out. I sure did miss the taste of it!

AS I was doing my run, I noticed my friend walking on the track with a distinct frown on his face which was very unusual for him. As I ran by, I asked what was wrong. He told me why he was upset. He didn’t receive everything he wanted in his quarterly package, Apparently, his girlfriend only ordered half of what he wanted and neglected to tell him.

As soon as I heard this, I told my friend he was fortunate to even receive a package. He really didn’t want to hear what I was saying; he just wanted to vent. I, on the other hand wanted him to focus on the positive. It is so easy inside of a place like this to focus on negatives and this is what my friend was doing. He didn’t receive any food in his package and he was very upset with his girlfriend. I watched him as I ran as he was talking with many inmates regarding this matter and all of them commiserated with him except me. I will not focus on the negative for myself and I told my friend this later in the afternoon. My friend has so much to be grateful for and I can understand his frustration but to me he had misplaced anger issues. I don’t know the entire history of my friend and his girlfriend but I suspect his anger ran deeper than the botched package. I’m not sure if I made any headway, but I did get him to smile.