No Books This Week

As I completed my run yesterday, I met up with my friend right away, and we walked a few laps. I told him about my newly acquired “running partner.” This much younger (probably in his early 20’s) inmate was polite enough to ask me if he could run with me. I certainly don’t want to offend anyone (especially in this place), so I said, “Yes.” We started to make small talk, and somehow the conversation got around to God. He told me his god was the “sun”. Now, I have been associated with Gamblers Anonymous for over two years, and I have a good understanding of a higher power, so his comment did not surprise me. However, as he started to elaborate telling me he “answers” to the sun, I realized I didn’t want this conversation to go any further. Since he was running along side of me and talking, I decided to run a bit faster so talking would be more difficult. My plan worked, and he stopped talking because he was trying to keep up with me. Much to his credit, he was able to do 2 miles with me at a good pace (7 minutes per mile), but he did stop running, and I kept going. I really don’t mind other inmates running with me, but I do enjoy my “alone time” when I run. Also, yesterday I was battling those stomach cramps, and had I not had the stomach cramps, I would have lost him sooner. I consider myself as having an open mind, but I had no response when he told me he “answers” to the sun, nor did I want to explore this further. I told my friend about this encounter, and he laughed.

My friend convinced me to sign up for a telephone call for Tuesday morning because there weren’t very many inmates signing up yesterday morning. I did deposit my ID card in the box and waited with him for the sign-up selection to start. It was taking much longer than either of us expected, but we waited patiently. Finally, the CO called out my name, my friend’s name, and one other inmate’s name. We went over to him, and he told us we could not sign up for a telephone call on Tuesday morning because we all had jobs. This was very unusual. In fact, this is the first time anything like this has happened. The CO was very nice when he explained it to us and even apologized. The odd part was there were only 3 other inmates there to sign up for the telephones. We weren’t taking away someone else’s telephone time as there were plenty of slots available. I guess this is a new procedure, and the CO is enforcing it. Thus, we were not allowed to sign up for a telephone call. I didn’t have any issues with this, but my friend seemed a bit miffed. I calmed him down, and we walked back to my dorm as the morning yard was about to close. We talked some more about my friend’s alternative plan for getting transferred to fire camp. I’m not sure if this is possible, but I believe my friend wants to move on to fire camp more than I do. He talks about this constantly, and hopefully, something works out this week.

I needed to get inside the dorm since my stomach cramps were not “relieving” themselves. Thankfully, the yard closure unlock arrived, and I said goodbye to my friend while I went inside. This was almost a repeat performance of the “silver bullet” episode a few months back. I will leave out the gory details, but I did manage to “relieve” my stomach cramps as I went inside the dorm. The dorm was very quiet at the time which seems to be the case when we have morning yard on Sundays. Not many of my dorm mates go outside for morning yard on Sundays. They seem to sleep in or watch a sporting event on television. This is good when it comes to getting into the shower because the line is very short. The showers are on from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. daily, and yesterday I had one hour left of shower time with only 3 dorm mates in front of me. This was just like old times when the shower was on all the time. I was able to wash my clothes, shave, and get into the shower all in this sequence.

As I was washing my clothes, one of my dorm mates was trying to make a joke of my skinniness. I wash my clothes only in my boxers without a shirt on. I am skinny. There is no doubt about that, but I do have a problem area, my “love handles” (obliques). No matter how many sit-ups I do or how much I run, the only fat I have resides on my love handles. I admit I am very self-conscious of these and, when my dorm mate tried to make a joke, I took offense. I didn’t take offense to the joke, I took offense to the fact he touched my love handles. I didn’t like him touching me, and I very sternly, but politely, said, “Please don’t touch me. I don’t go around touching anyone, so I don’t expect to be touched.” I did shock my dorm mate with this statement, and I actually shocked myself. Normally, I don’t take myself too seriously, but something hit a nerve as he touched my love handles. My dorm mate did apologize and said that he understood. There weren’t any hard feelings. My reaction could have been nicer, but I guess the stress of this place creeps in when I least expect it. I have to be more aware of what comes out of my mouth, and in the future, I will be more diligent. I can say the dorm mate won’t touch me again. (As a follow-up, there are truly no hard feelings as I have talked with this dorm mate subsequent to my comment). I didn’t have to rush through my shower as only one dorm mate was waiting. I’m not sure how to take my time in the shower anymore because I have conditioned myself to get in and out as fast as possible. I did linger under the warm shower for an extra 30 seconds.

As I got out of the shower, I received some bad news. I was expecting to receive the 7th and 8th installments in the Left Behind series; however, the inmate who was supposed to get them for me didn’t go to church yesterday morning. The back-up inmate to him was not allowed to check the books out because he had 4 books outstanding already, and usually 2 are the limit, so I have no books this week, which put a little crimp in my plans. I was looking to start the 7th installment yesterday, but this will have to wait until next week. Also, I had to come up with an alternative “script” for yesterday since I had nothing to read.

After the shower and receiving the news, I made myself a very leisurely lunch now that my stomach cramps had subsided. I decided to take a break from the peanut butter and banana sandwich since I already had a banana for breakfast. (Two bananas in one day may be too much for my stomach to handle)! I went with the usual PB & J sandwich and also made a soup 30 minutes later. I wanted to drag out lunch for as long as possible, and I did. I took my time eating, and almost an hour had disappeared when I finished. After completing lunch, I wrote a little and listened to the radio. Basically, I did very little yesterday afternoon. I even watched the last 2 minutes of the NBA playoff game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns. It was a compelling ending, and thankfully, these 2 minutes took 25 minutes to complete.

The game ended, and I went to my bunk. While I was on my bunk, a dorm mate gave me a weekly newspaper as well as the sport section from a San Diego newspaper which was from last Sunday. I was very excited to read these 2 newspapers. Yes, they were both sports periodicals, but I read the articles from a sports fan perspective which was nice. I was interested in seeing how the New York Mets were faring, and they are doing well! Ever since my friend’s connection to the local newspaper moved out, I have not seen a newspaper, and it has now been over a month. My dear friends keep me updated on all current events with their weekly letters to me, but it was good to read some in-depth articles. I absorbed many articles and took my time reading. I spent 90 minutes with these newspapers, which was very good. Upon completely reading these newspapers, I broke out the pen and paper until dinnertime arrived.

Dinnertime arrived 30 minutes earlier than had been the case all week. This took everyone by surprise including me. I had to scramble to get ready, and the next thing I knew I was walking to the dining hall. Last night’s dinner was a good one for me as rice and beans were both on the menu. The main entrée was a baked chicken, and I have to say if I ate chicken, I wouldn’t have eaten this chicken. This chicken did not contain a sliver of white meat, and from what I saw, it was extremely greasy. I was very happy with the red beans and rice. I received ample portions of both along with the cornbread. This was more that enough food for me. It seems the baked chicken dinner brings everyone to the dining hall because I had to wait for a table to clear. Normally, I take my tray and go directly to a table with dorm mates; however, last night there was a few-minute’s wait before a table opened. Also, the dinnertime “Chicken Nazi” was posted at the exit inspecting many inmates for wayward chickens. This CO was patting down many inmates as we are not allowed to take any food out of the dining hall. Some inmates take their chicken back to the dorm and sell it for soups. Others take the chicken back and prepare a chicken stew. Last night the “Chicken Nazi” put a damper on this for many inmates.

Dinner was completed, and it was back to the dorm. The last week has proved to be a no-go for evening yard, but due to the earlier-than-usual dinnertime, I had hopes of getting out for the evening yard. I didn’t have to wait very long (about an hour) before an abbreviated session of the evening yard was opened. I very happily went outside into the beautiful evening. I met up with my friend, and we talked while waiting for the telephone signups to start. Since we were unable to sign up for a telephone call earlier in the morning, we thought we would try at night. I was fortunate enough to obtain a time for Tuesday night in the off chance I am actually transferred to fire camp this week. I have sort of lost confidence in being transferred, so if I do get transferred this week, it will be a surprise. I will know tomorrow (Tuesday), and by the time I can make my telephone call, I can inform my wife if I will be here yet another week or be at fire camp on Wednesday. Even with my friend’s alternate plan, my optimism is guarded. I know I will be transferred to fire camp, but I have no idea when. Obviously, the sooner the better, but sooner is starting to fade away. My friend wasn’t as fortunate as he was unable to get a telephone signup time, but this didn’t matter as my friend always seems to find a way to make telephone calls.

The rest of the evening I hung out with my friend and another inmate. I really didn’t get a chance to speak with my friend because the inmate monopolized the conversation. It didn’t matter what the conversation was as he always brought it back to himself. Even my friend noticed it and made a joke about it, but it didn’t matter as the other inmate monopolized the conversation. This other inmate is also waiting to go to fire camp, and he finished his training requirements 2 weeks after I finished mine. Last night, all he kept talking about was fire camp and how it would be great if we were transferred this week. At one point, I had to say I didn’t really want to talk about fire camp anymore, but this didn’t stop him. I was being selfish, but I prefer it when it is just my friend and me. My friend knows my anxiety level as his has surpassed mine, and he, too, is concentrating on getting to fire camp. We finally got off the subject of fire camp. We started to talk about the “resolution” of the California prison overcrowding crisis. The “resolution” was the new law passed by the California State Legislature 1-1/2 weeks ago. Supposedly in this law, certain sentences have been reduced. I say supposedly because I don’t know if it is a fact or just a rumor. For example, my sentence of 4 years where I have to serve 50% will be reduced to 33%. I don’t know the details (if there are any), but if this were done retroactively to the beginning of my sentence, I would be getting out in November of this year, which is only 6 months away. As I mentioned, I have no idea if this is just a myth. I will be so happy when June 4th comes and goes, because this is the date the federal judge is supposed to rule on the new law. Hopefully, it will put an end to all the rumors, and I can get on with my sentence. Until that time, I am sure there will be plenty of rumors which will provide distractions.

Anyhow, the abbreviated evening yard ended, and I had to go back inside my dorm. I certainly did not want to because it was so nice outside. I was willing to sleep outside last night, but this was certainly not an option. I went back inside and discovered there is a “cookie thief” inside the dorm. Allegedly, one of my dorms mates had 2 boxes of cookies stolen out of his locker during the previous night. This is the first time I had heard of someone’s locker being pilfered. Yes, I am surrounded by criminals (including me), but there has been honor among thieves because prison justice is much harsher than regular criminal justice. Stealing from another inmate is not tolerated, and the consequences are harsh. Now the dorm mate who reported the theft is a nice enough person, but he is the one who gave out all of the misinformation regarding the prison over-crowding , and he also has a tendency to not speak the truth. I’m not exactly sold on the fact someone stole his cookies, but the accusation was quite shocking. No one admitted to the theft nor has anyone been caught. I have been very fortunate because my locker has never been touched, and it is full of food. Of course, my locker is not full of the normal inmate’s food, and I doubt very much someone would want my South Beach diet cereal bars or granola. I do have some soups, and if someone did take a few, I wouldn’t really know. I’m not going to alter anything based on these accusations, and to me, it is business as usual.

I spent the remaining time listening to the radio and went to sleep at my usual time. My sleep was the same as the night before, which meant I only got up once during the right. I did have a very strange dream that I actually remember. I was at a GA meeting, and it was my first meeting after my release. The strange parts were I did not recognize the room where the meeting took place, and although the names of the members were that of my dear friends, their faces were of completely different people. The fact that they were different peopled didn’t seem to matter because they instantly recognized me, and I seemingly instantly recognized them. The meeting was excellent, and I woke up with a smile on my face. I managed to fall back asleep as I woke at 3 a.m. refreshed (second night in a row this has happened). I slept until my usual time, and this being Monday meant it was the beginning of my work week. I prefer the earlier time as it gets the day started sooner. This does cut into my watching the Today Show, but that is okay with me.

The breakfast release came after my morning routine of stretching and watching the news. I went to the dining hall for breakfast, and the breakfast was the very filling pancakes and oatmeal. I received my vegetarian tray (sans sausage) which had an extra pancake and extra portion of oatmeal with the 2 packets of peanut butter. It appears the kitchen workers want to fatten me up. I did manage to eat everything on my tray, and I know I am eating more now than when I was on the outside. My diet was one of the biggest concerns I had when I entered prison almost 10 months ago, but it has worked out very well, and I am certainly maintaining my weight. There weren’t any bananas on the tray this morning; just an apple, which is not worth taking out with the “Fruit Nazi” on duty, so I walked out of the dining hall without any fruit. I continued walking back to my dorm, and since it was still very early, I was able to watch 30 minutes of the Today Show before my dorm mates changed the channel to Saved By The Bell.

Things were getting closer to normal this morning, and I went outside for the work call. As I went outside, I asked the very nice CO (he only works my dorm on Monday as he is a relief CO) to see if he could call over to the fire camp office like he did last week so I could ascertain my number on the infamous list. I was curious to see if I moved up or down from my position of 30th last week. In fact, when I asked the CO if he could do this, I said, “I would like to see if I went from the 30th to 50th position,” and he laughed because he couldn’t figure out how the “list” works. It seems one week an inmate could be 10th out, and the next week they could be 20th, which makes no sense. The very nice CO took my ID, and I knew he would call. I then went over to the basketball court for the PFT Plus class. I am still in between the PFT classes as the next class starts tomorrow. There is a definite cycle and rhythm to my routine which helps to make the days go by faster. This morning the yard opened much earlier than it has in awhile, and inmates showed up for the PFT Plus class. Instead of doing an easy Monday PFT Plus class, we (the instructors) decided to do the Friday very difficult PFT Plus class. I was so happy to do this session because it provides a great workout. Even after almost 6 months of doing this, the class is very challenging. It was specifically challenging for one of the other instructors as he turned 3 shades of green when we finished the class. He has been slacking over the past few weeks but decided to do the class this morning. All his slacking caught up with him as he finished the exercises. He had to walk away and compose himself for a few minutes. I seem to be getting stronger, and thankfully, I didn’t have any stomach issues this morning.

As the class ended, there was still some time left in the morning yard, so I decided to do the Harvard Wall until the yard closed. I was able to get in 45 minutes on the Harvard Wall, and with the temperature rising, I got a very good workout. The morning yard did close early to accommodate the locked-down inmates so they could have an hour’s worth of yard during the lunch period. I went inside the dorm where I washed my sweaty shirt and changed into a cooler one. I also had ½ of a power bar to hold me over until later as I had more working out to do in the afternoon. The rest of the lunch period I just relaxed, and thankfully, it wasn’t as extended as it has been over the past week. It appears things are getting back to normal, albeit slowly.